Bitcoin price crash: Crypto plunges by 9% as billions wiped off market

The cryptocurrency market has seen a dramatic crash, wiping 9 per cent off the market.

Bitcoin was down by 8.8 per cent over the last 24 hours. Many other coins suffered even more, with ethereum falling 11.1 per cent.

That came amid drastically increased trading volumes, presumably as people rushed to get rid of their rapidly depreciating cryptocurrencies. Market volume was up 113 per cent, according to tracking website CoinMarketCap.

The recent falls mean that bitcoin has dropped comfortably beneath the $40,000 mark that some analysts had seen as an important psychological indication of how bad any drop might be.

It is just the latest indication that the growing fears of a “crypto winter” might be coming true. Bitcoin has already had its worst start to a new year ever, and has plunged through a number of important milestones.

The poor performance is in stark contrast to the record-breaking performance at the end of the year. Bitcoin hit its all-time high in November – almost touching $70,000 – but it is now 44 per cent beneath that record.

Some supporters had hoped that bitcoin and other cryptocurrency could bounce back as a hedge against high inflation. But even as inflation continues to rise, the price has struggled, dropping further and further.