The selloff in Bitcoin appears to be accelerating as the price of the cryptocurrency has now fallen below $50,000 U.S.
The price of Bitcoin has fallen nearly 10% in the last 24 hours to $48,687, according to Coin Metrics data. It’s the first-time Bitcoin has traded below $50,000 since early March of this year.
The selloff in Bitcoin has extended to other cryptocurrencies, with Ethereum down more than 12% to $2,211. XRP, the fifth largest cryptocurrency, has plunged nearly 19%. In all, more than $200 billion of value has been erased from the entire cryptocurrency market this week.
The selloff follows big gains for cryptocurrencies. Year-to-date, Bitcoin has risen 66% while Ethereum has rallied more than 200%. Much of that support has been because of increased buying of Bitcoin by institutional investors. Companies such as Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Square (NYSE:SQ) have bought billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin.
Commercial banks are also trying to allow their clients to get involved in the Bitcoin market. In March, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) said it was launching access to three funds that enable ownership of Bitcoin.
However, concerns over a regulatory crackdown on Bitcoin continue to cloud the market. Authorities around the world are looking into how to regulate cryptocurrencies, including in the United States.
