Nearly $13 billion wiped off of cryptocurrency market as major coins plunge
The price of major cryptocurrencies plunged on Thursday with nearly $13 billion of value being wiped out in a matter of hours. At around 10:23 a.m. HK/SIN, bitcoin had fallen nearly 5 percent to $6,303, while XRP and ethereum both tanked over 10 percent, according to data from Coinmarketcap.com. It's not unusual to see bitcoin lead other digital tokens lower.
In just three hours, nearly $13 billion of value had been erased from the entire cryptocurrency market. The drop comes amid fresh warnings from financial authorities about the rapid growth of digital coins and the potential threat to the economy. "Continued rapid growth of crypto assets could create new vulnerabilities in the international financial system," the International Monetary Fund said in a recent report.Many cryptocurrency enthusiasts hoped 2018 would be a year that regulators warmed up to the idea of professionalizing the trading of digital assets through new financial products like exchange-traded funds. But the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected several ETFs including a highly anticipated one planned by the Winklevoss twins. Other countries, including China, have come down hard on cryptocurrencies.
