The cryptocurrency market was under pressure on Tuesday after rebounding marginally during the weekend. At the moment, virtual coins are witnessing wild swings in valuation due to a number of developments.
Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, was trading at $33,124, down nearly 4 per cent lower at 12:30 pm. Ether (ETH) fell nearly 7 per cent and is struggling to stay above $2,000.
The entire cryptocurrency market is witnessing a broad-based slump at the moment and popular altcoins such as XRP, Cardano, Dogecoin, Stellar, Uniswap, Polkadot and Litecoin have fallen sharply.
Cryptocurrency Highlights | Check yesterday’s prices
The fresh weakness in the cryptocurrency market is primarily the result of a seizure of virtual coins worth $408 million by British police as part of an investigation into money laundering by organised crime groups.
This could be a big blow to cryptocurrency trade in the UK, where major virtual coin exchange platform Binance is already facing a regulatory probe.
London police said on Tuesday that 180 million pounds of an undisclosed cryptocurrency has been seized less than three weeks after a 114-million pound haul on June 24 as part of the investigation.
“While cash still remains king in the criminal word, as digital platforms develop we’re increasingly seeing organised criminals using cryptocurrency to launder their dirty money,” said Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Graham McNulty.
The development is expected to trigger short-term volatility in the cryptocurrency market.
Meanwhile, trading volumes at major cryptocurrency exchanges fell by more than 40 per cent in June, according to data furnished by London-based researcher CryptoCompare.
It said that spot trading volumes fell 42.7 per cent to $2.7 trillion, with derivative volumes down 40.7 per cent to $32 trillion.
“Headwinds continued as China persisted with its crackdown on bitcoin mining,” CryptoCompare said. “As a result of both lower prices and volatility, spot volumes decreased.”
It may be noted that the Bitcoin fell more than 6 per cent last month, touching its lowest since January. In May, Bitcoin had tumbled 35 per cent as it suffered due to China’s crackdown on the fast-growing sector.
Commenting on the fresh weakness, Edul Patel, CEO and Co-founder of Mudrex, a global algorithm based crypto trading platform, said, “The cryptocurrency markets are moving out of the consolidation. However, we are witnessing a profit booking session so far.”
“There hasn’t been any major selling activity as the traded volumes are not huge. Moreover, there hasn’t been any macro-economic factor to provide fodder for the bears,” he added.
Patel said most of the major cryptocurrencies are down by approximately 5 per cent. “BTC has been above the $33,000 mark. Most of the altcoins such as Ether, Polkadot, Solana etc. are under selling pressure. We can expect the markets to remain volatile for the next 24 hours,” he added.
Here are the latest prices and trends of popular cryptocurrencies:
|
Cryptocurrency |
Price (US Dollar) |
24-hour change |
Market cap (Billion) |
Volume (24 Hours) |
|
Bitcoin |
33,232.82 |
-3.36% |
$623.24 |
$21.20 billion |
|
Ether |
2,022.81 |
-6.00% |
$236.00 |
$16.93 billion |
|
Dogecoin |
0.205563 |
-5.54% |
$26.78 |
$1.31 billion |
|
Litecoin |
132.69 |
-4.30% |
$9.03 |
$1.91 billion |
|
XRP |
0.636429 |
-2.34% |
$63.64 |
$1.78 billion |
|
Cardano |
1.31 |
-4.29% |
$42.19 |
$1.19 billion |
DISCLAIMER: The cryptocurrency prices have been updated as of 1:40 pm and will change as the day progresses. The list is intended to give a rough idea about popular cryptocurrency trends and be updated daily.