A new week, a new beginning- not for the cryptocurrency market though, as the currencies failed to shrug off the coronavirus blues from last week, starting the day on a miserable note yet again.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by value, slumped by another 18% as the sell-offs continue to be the order of the day across conventional as well as cryptocurrency markets. Bitcoin was down by another 10%, trading at $4525 on Monday morning. The currency traded as low as $3600 on the 12th of March, before stabilizing somewhat, trading in mid $4000s. But the slump refuses to subside, with Bitcoin shedding 57% from $10,500, a year high, set on 13th of February.
There has been some recover since, but Bitcoin closed yet another day in red as it somehow managed to hold on to the $5000 mark.
Other cryptocurrencies had no better outings, with Ether down by 20% and Litecoin tumbling 17%, as the coronavirus continues to drive markets into freefall.
The US markets also continued the downward trend on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 2,250.46 points or 9.71 percent at 20,935.16 while the S&P 500 was at 2,490.47, down 220.55 points or 8.14 percent. Nasdaq also slid 6.1 percent. The S&P 500 dropped 8 percent, triggering yet another circuit breaker trading halt of 15 minutes across all indices. The US Federal Reserve had also slashed interest rates by 150 basis points earlier today, while also providing a $700 billion easing program.
