Cryptocurrency market stabilizes after violent sell-off

Cryptocurrency markets stabilized on Saturday after a violent sell-off saw billions of dollars wiped off the value of many digital coins.

Still many of the cryptocurrencies were well off their all-time highs.

Bitcoin hit $8,997.91 on Saturday morning New York time, according to CoinDesk data. CoinDesk's bitcoin price index tracks prices from digital currency exchanges Bitstamp, Coinbase, itBit and Bitfinex.

Meanwhile ethereum hit a high in the day of $945.21 and ripple traded as high as $0.89.

Bitcoin was up around 7 percent in 24 hours, while ethereum and ripple were significantly higher.

The rebound in prices follow a severe sell-off on Friday which saw over $100 billion of value wiped off the cryptocurrency market and sent bitcoin below $8,000 for the first time since November.

Cryptocurrency markets have been hit with some bad news of late, particularly worries over tighter regulation

India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the country wants to "eliminate" the use of digital currencies in criminal activities, signaling tighter regulation in the country.

Meanwhile, there are also lingering fears about a cryptocurrency called tether and its ability to collapse the bitcoin market.

Despite the small rebound on Saturday, some virtual currencies are still off their all-time highs. Bitcoin hit a record $19,000 in December 2017.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/03/bitcoin-price-cryptocurrency-market-stabilizes-after-violent-sell-off.html