Crypto crash: Bitcoin has now tanked 66% since record high

The world's most popular cryptoactive asset has also been hit hard by the news that the Celsius Network cryptocurrency lending platform has stopped downloading, citing a rapid trend.

Losses accelerated as the main Binance exchanges temporarily halted bitcoin withdrawals, but advised customers to use other networks.

World stocks have fallen since Friday, when data showed that US inflation is the highest in four decades.

This raises concerns about the global recession and sends investors on the run from risky cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether - and by adopting traditional safe assets such as the dollar. "Bitcoin and ether remain a serious battle in the ring," said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter.

"They are the main victims of escaping risky assets because investors fear rising consumer prices around the world."

The digital currency fell more than 16 percent to $ 22,603 ​​in London noon, reaching its final point in December 2020.

Bitcoin is now down 66 percent from a record high of $ 68,991.85 in November.

Investors sought security on Monday as the US Federal Reserve is likely to aggressively raise borrowing costs to beat inflation.

According to reports from the Celsius network, the decline in bitcoin is intensifying. "Today we announce that Celsius has stopped all withdrawals, swaps and transfers between accounts," the platform said in a statement.

Celsius took the move "due to the desperate market situation," he added.

The total volume of client deposits in May fell by more than half to almost $ 12 billion compared to the end of last year.

The global crypt market is currently worth $ 1.0 trillion, the public data aggregator CoinGecko said on Monday.

This is an increase from more than $ 3 trillion to a maximum of seven months ago, when the market was hit by a wave of high demand from investors amid growing acceptance by large financial institutions. In witness to the growing importance of cryptocurrencies, two countries, El Salvador and the Central African Republic, have engaged in gambling to accept bitcoin as legal tender - despite strong criticism from international financial institutions. .

In recent years, the crypto sector has benefited from large-scale inflows through rapid monetary policy from the world's largest central banks.

However, high inflation has triggered tighter monetary policy around the world and helped the sector collapse.

"We fear that inflation is too hot for central banks to control, forcing them to wake economies in frozen water streams in the form of higher interest rates to control it," Streeter added.

"In an era of cheap money that is coming to an end, traders are increasingly risk averse and rejecting cryptoactive assets.