Bitcoin skids to six-month low as fears over Ukraine shake markets

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Bitcoin tumbled to its lowest level in six months on Monday as fears of a Russian attack on Ukraine saw riskier assets worldwide extend their sell-off.The largest cryptocurrency was last down 5.4 percent at $34,310 after earlier dropping to $32,951, its lowest price since July 23, taking losses from its all-time high of $69,000 hit in November past 50 percent.NATO said on Monday it was putting forces on standby and reinforcing Eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets, in what Russia denounced as an escalation of tensions over Ukraine.Also Read:Explained: Why some countries are banning crypto advertisementsFears of a conflict pummelled shares across the world while bolstering the dollar and oil.Nerves over the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting, starting on Tuesday, added to the mix, with the US central bank expected to confirm it will soon start draining the pool of liquidity that has supercharged growth stocks."The story is really how aggressive is the tightening," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex in New York, noting that a Fed move to reduce the size of its balance sheet will tighten conditions along with higher interest rates.Crypto-currencies are falling along with other risk assets as "people are pulling back on risk broadly," he added.Also Read: Russia proposes ban on use and mining of cryptocurrenciesSmaller cryptocurrencies, which tend to move in tandem with bitcoin, also slumped.

Ether, the second-largest digital coin, was last down 11 percent at $2,257 after earlier reaching $2,160, its lowest level since July 27.More than $400 million in crypto assets has been liquidated in the past 24 hours, according to data from Coinglass, with Bitcoin trades accounting