Cryptocurrency prices today were mixed with Bitcoin trading below $48,000. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization jumped by about $2,500 within a matter of minutes on Friday and was trading around $48,000 for most of the weekend, having spent more than a week before that in the lower $40,000s.
Bitcoin prices today were marginally higher at $47,946. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is up 65% this year (year-to-date), and much below its record of near $65,000 it had hit in April.
Ether, the coin linked to ethereum blockchain and the second largest crypto, plunged over 1% to $3,378. Cardano prices also fell to $2.22 whereas dogecoin rose marginally to $0.22. The performance of other digital tokens including XRP, Litecoin, Stellar were also mixed over the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin rose on Friday to its highest level since around mid-September, bolstered in part by seasonal factors as well as supportive comments overall from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday.
Bitcoin was hit on multiple fronts in September, including a botched roll-out of the coin as legal tender in El Salvador and tightening of regulatory oversights in the US and China. It delivered a negative return for the fifth straight year for the 30-day period last month. The crypto asset has been on a losing streak in terms of monthly performance in September since 2017.
China’s central bank had said all financial transactions involving cryptocurrencies are illegal, sounding the death knell for the digital trade in the country after a crackdown on the volatile digital tokens.
China has been tightening its crackdown on cryptocurrencies, and its efforts to restrain the trading and mining are adding to the wild moves in bitcoin and other markets, which are already down hard from records set earlier this year.
(With inputs from agencies)
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