Cryptocurrency market is down 14.39% on the last 24 hours (9.15am, Wednesday 8th September).
After a year of gains and record highs, crypto currencies are enduring a turbulent time with unpredictable price changes.
Bitcoin and different main crypto coins experienced a significant drop in share price after traders began dumping mining equipment as China introduced fresh regulations.
Bitcoin (BTC) was down -13.44% at 9.15am on eight September, accompanied by Ethereum (ETH) -15.49%, Cardano (ADA) -15.92%, Binance Coin (BNB) -19.48%, Tether (USDT) +0.46%, XRP (XRP) -21.66%, Solana -17.82%, Dogecoin (DOGE) -19.32%, Polkadot (DOT) -26.90%, Uniswap (UNI) -22.76%, Chainlink (LINK) -24.81%, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) -14.43%, Litecoin -19.90%.
It follows current crashes brought on by Tesla making a u-turn on accepting Bitcoin as payment for its merchandise and China clamping down on initial coin offerings, block exchanges and warned against speculative trading.
A further blow was dealt when China ordered Bitcoin mining in its Sichuan province to shut down totally and went on to instruct banks to cease supporting crypto transactions, in a contemporary wave of restrictions on cryptos.
This is what’s going on in the world of cryptocurrencies…
Why is the crypto market down?
China’s crackdown on cryptos comes days after Musk’s shock announcement.
Musk’s decision signifies a sharp u-turn for Tesla who just began accepting Bitcoin as payment for its services in February 2021.
It came after the electric powered car company bought $1.5b (£1.06b) of Bitcoin shares, which in turn despatched the market price of both the crypto and Tesla soaring.
Yet the influence on the environment of Bitcoin mining – a complex process of minting new digital tokens – has considered Tesla withdraw this alternative for customers.
The billionaire entrepreneur said: “We are worried about swiftly increasing use of fossil fuel for Bitcoin mining and transactions, particularly coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.”
Musk reaffirmed his trust that cryptocurrency has a “promising future” but that it “cannot come at great cost to the environment”, in his Twitter post.
Musk has been a long-time advocate of cryptocurrencies and the Tesla choice was felt throughout the market, with other digital tokens going down in price.
What is the price of Bitcoin and Ethereum?
The price of Bitcoin was £32,911.58 after the famous drop in prices (8 September), in accordance to Coinbase.
In the last 24 hours, Ethereum had dropped to a value of £2,386.38.
Cryptocurrencies are considered as an choice to traditional banking methods, more cost effective to move money round due to not being regulated by the authorities or its banks.
The choice via Tesla, and announced by Musk, was considered by some as a slight on the credibility of cryptos to end up a potential approach of fee towards physical currencies.
Which crypto prices are down?
Bitcoin wasn’t the only cryptocurrency to experience the initial effects, with the relaxation of the top 10 all experiencing dips in value.
Dogecoin, which was firstly set up as a joke in 2012 before seeing its shares skyrocket, has confronted the worst of it with tremendous double digit drops due to China’s crackdown.
Musk’s impact can’t be underestimated as, even though the likes of PayPal, Mastercard and Facebook have backed cryptos, the Tesla announcement still rocked the market.