Cryptocurrency market continues in free fall: touch 10-month lows
The bear market for cryptocurrencies touched a new 10-month low after the fall of the main bitcoin rival and after US regulators suspended the negotiation of two securities linked to digital assets.Ether, the second largest virtual currency, fell 8.9% from its level at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, New York time on Friday, according to Bloomberg composite prices. Bitcoin lost 2.1%, while the market capitalization of digital assets followed by CoinMarketCap.com fell to 197 billion dollars, a reduction of almost 640 billion dollars since its peak in January.
Cryptocurrencies have fallen for five of the past six weeks, with prospects that a more widespread adoption of digital assets will take longer than some anticipated. That concern was apparent over the weekend after the US Securities and Exchange Commission temporarily suspended the trading of two listed securities linked to cryptocurrencies and after Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin told Bloomberg that The days of an explosive growth of the sector in the chain of blocks probably have already finished. "The temporary suspension of these products led to an instinctive initial reaction," said Ryan Rabaglia, head of cryptocurrency trading at Hong Kong's OSL. "But ultimately, it's just another obstacle that the market must overcome."
The cryptocurrencies remained under pressure on Monday despite reports that Citigroup has developed a new mechanism to invest in the sector. The US bank plans to act as the issuer of so-called digital asset receipts to allow trading without directly owning the underlying currencies, said one person with knowledge of the plans.
Ether has fallen faster than bitcoin in recent months due to concern that companies related to the block chain are withdrawing money from the second cryptocurrency. Many startups that captured Ether from investors in their initial currency offers will eventually need to sell their holdings to cover expenses such as salaries and development costs.
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