Investing.com — Bitcoin prices plunged to a more than five-month low on Monday, tracking a broader rout in financial markets as growing fears of a U.S. economic slowdown hit risk appetite.
Bitcoin price fell 12% over the past 24 hours to $51,995.00 as of 02:13 ET (06:13 GMT). The token was at its lowest level since late February, largely negating the rally sparked by the launch of Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds in March.
Bitcoin falls as capital losses surge
The world's largest cryptocurrency fell following heavy losses suffered by stock markets since Friday, as a series of weak US economic figures raised concerns about a possible recession. Wall Street indexes plunged on Friday, while Asian markets posted heavy losses on Monday and Japanese stocks entered a bear market just three weeks after hitting record highs.
Bitcoin, along with the broader cryptocurrency markets, was particularly affected by risk-averse sentiment, given its highly speculative nature.
Increased expectations of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve did little to stop Bitcoin's decline, with traders largely sticking to Bitcoin as safe havens.
posted deeper losses against the Japanese yen.
The world's largest cryptocurrency was already suffering sharp declines over the past week after the US government was seen mobilizing around $2 billion worth of tokens, announcing a possible sale.
Declining trading volumes in the cryptocurrency derivatives market, particularly in US ETFs, also provided little support to the token.
Uncertainty over the outlook for US regulation also weighed on cryptocurrency markets, especially as recent Bloomberg poll data showed Democratic front-runner Kamala Harris closing in on Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Cryptocurrency prices today: Ether plummets to December lows
Broader cryptocurrency markets were also hit by the risk-off sentiment. The world's No. 2 token fell 21.5% to $2,2390.13, its lowest level since December.
The token erased all gains made on recent speculation around Ether spot ETFs, whose launch last week had also provided little support to markets.
and fell more than 17% each, while among meme tokens, they lost around 18% each.
