No let up in crypto slide, Bitcoin at 18-month low
Al JazeeraCryptocurrencies are now emblematic of a flight from speculative investments as monetary policy is tightened globally. Cryptocurrencies tumbled afresh on Tuesday, with Bitcoin and Ether falling to new 18-month lows, after major cryptocurrency lending company Celsius Network’s freezing of withdrawals delivered the latest jolt to investors in the asset class. The Celsius move triggered a slide across cryptocurrencies, with their value dropping below $1 trillion on Monday for the first time since January 2021, sparking worries the rout might spill over into other assets or hit other companies. “It’s all a house of cards.” Celsius said in a blog post published in Asia hours on Monday citing extreme market conditions that it had frozen withdrawals and transfers between accounts, “to stabilise liquidity and operations while we take steps to preserve and protect assets”. Crypto bank Silvergate Capital shares closed down 16.7 percent on Monday, BTC buyer and business intelligence software provider MicroStrategy tumbled 25.2 percent, and crypto exchange Coinbase Global lost 11.4 percent.