Market crash hits crypto investors amid Hong Kong’s efforts to build virtual assets sector
- Crypto’s steep fall on Monday saw more than US$1 billion worth of bullish crypto positions held by investors liquidated in the past 24 hours
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency token, briefly tumbled below US$50,000 on Monday during one of the worst global markets sell-off in years, hitting crypto investors amid Hong Kong’s efforts to boost its virtual assets sector.
Bitcoin at one point on Monday saw its value shed 15 per cent, with its price briefly dipping below US$50,000 for the first time in months before a mild rebound. Ether, the world’s second largest crypto token, plunged nearly 20 per cent on Monday.
The crypto crash came amid a global stock market rout on Monday that was triggered by US recession fears and a sharp rally of the Japanese yen.
The world’s top crypto coin has been in a slump recently after reaching an all time high of nearly US$74,000 in March this year, and its fall has deepened over the last week, with its price dropping nearly 20 per cent over the past five days.
Crypto’s steep fall on Monday saw more than US$1 billion worth of bullish crypto positions held by investors liquidated in the past 24 hours, according to market data provider Coinglass.
The sell-off also hit Hong Kong’s exchange-traded funds (ETF) that directly track bitcoin and ether prices. ChinaAMC’s spot bitcoin ETF, for instance, on Monday saw its largest single-day outflow of HK$35.19 million (US$4.5 million) since the ETFs’ debut in April this year.
Three spot bitcoin ETFs available in Hong Kong plunged 14 per cent to 17 per cent in price on Monday, while the city’s three spot ether ETFs all took a nosedive of more than 25 per cent.
