Bitcoin drops, driving US$2 trillion slide in crypto market value

Bitcoin plunged on Thursday, its decline accelerating amid weakening risk sentiment driven in part by volatility in precious ‍metals and a broad sell-off in tech shares.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell to a low of US$66,675.12, its weakest since October 2024, a month before Republican Donald Trump won the US presidential election, having signalled his intention to support cryptocurrency on the campaign trail. It was last down 6.5 per cent at US$67,817.

In total, the global digital market has lost US$2 trillion in value since hitting a peak of US$4.379 trillion in early October, CoinGecko data showed, with some US$800 billion wiped out in the last ⁠month alone.

Bitcoin has already fallen 11 per cent for the week, taking its losses for the year so far to 23 per cent. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalisation, was down more than 7 per cent at US$1,973 on Thursday. Ether has fallen nearly 14 per cent this week, with losses of roughly 34 per cent so far this year.

Sentiment on crypto was affected by the latest selling in metals and stocks. Gold and silver, for instance, have become more volatile as a result of leveraged buying and speculative flows. Silver, for one, fell as much as 16.6 per cent to a low of US$73.41.

In equities, the S&P 500 slid to near two-week lows and the Nasdaq sank to its lowest level in more than two months on Thursday, as the AI theme came under renewed pressure.