Trading volumes at the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase, Kraken, Binance and Bitstamp, fell more than 40% in June as prices for Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital coins fell sharply.
Cryptocurrency market data provider CryptoCompare cited lower prices and ongoing volatility as the reasons for the drop in trading volumes.
In June, the price of Bitcoin hit a monthly low of $28,908 and ended the month down 6%. A daily trading volume maximum of $138.2 billion U.S. reached on June 22 was down 42.3% from the intra-month high recorded in the previous month of May.
China’s ongoing crackdown on cryptocurrencies has been the major catalyst for the downturn in cryptocurrency prices. At the end of June, China ordered a halt to cryptocurrency as it prepares to launch its own state-backed digital currency.
In recent weeks, China has shuttered mining operations across various provinces that had hosted 50% to 60% of all of Bitcoin mining operations in the world.
This year, the price of Bitcoin climbed as high as $64,000 U.S. and Ethereum as high as $4,000 U.S., which brought a lot of new investors into cryptocurrencies that haven’t weathered a Bitcoin bear market yet.
Despite the dramatic drop in trading volumes, it is still much higher than it was last year, according to CryptoCompare. Cryptocurrency investors surveyed by business news channel CNBC said they see Bitcoin ending this year below the $30,000 U.S. mark.
