Crypto prices slump over the weekend

livemint.com:

The cryptocurrency market fell over the weekend, mirroring the slide of the broader stock market.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin, fell to $34,702.69 on Sunday morning, a 3.8% change from Friday evening, according to prices from CoinDesk. Bitcoin’s price is almost half its all-time high of $67,802.30 in November.

As more professional investors have entered the cryptocurrency market, it’s increasingly moved in tandem with traditional markets. Institutional investors that buy cryptocurrencies treat them as risk assets, similar to tech stocks.

The stock market fell last week the day after the Federal Reserve announced a rate increase of a half point, the biggest since 2000 to battle inflation. The central bank is also unwinding some of its $9 trillion asset portfolio. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said there could be additional increases over the summer.

Investors have been less enthusiastic about risky bets amid the stock market’s decline. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite hit a 52-week low on Friday, falling to 12144.66. Year to date it is down 22%.

The crypto market was active over the weekend with $100 billion in market volume, according to CoinMarketCap. The global crypto market is now only $1.6 trillion.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text