Financial Gazette – Santiago
Bitcoin is dropping towards levels last seen in July 2021, as part of a broader crypto-currency slide amid a global flight from riskier investments.
The world’s largest digital token was down 2.7% on Monday and was trading at $33,531 as of 10:28 am in London. The second largest, Ether, lost as much as 4.6%.
Most of the major cryptocurrencies came under pressure over the weekend and the bearish mood continued into Monday. Stocks in Asia and Europe also fell, with the Nikkei down 2.5% and the Stoxx Europe 600 down 1.2%.
Tight monetary policy to combat hyperinflation and dwindling liquidity has kept investors away from speculative assets in global markets.
Adding to the caution around digital assets, TerraUSD, or UST, an arithmetic stablecoin aimed at maintaining one parity with the dollar, fell below $1 over the weekend before recovering.
“Given concerns about rising inflation, most investors have taken a risk-off approach – selling both stocks and cryptocurrencies to reduce risk,” said Darshan Bateja, CEO of Fold, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange.
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