Bitcoin slides to its lowest level this year as inflation soars

Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value, dropped below $33,000 during Monday trading, according to data from cryptocurrency news portal CoinDesk, losing half of its value since its peak six months ago.

At 10:55 GMT, it was down nearly 5.5%, trading at $32,800, the lowest level since last July. Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $68,990 in November.

The dip comes as part of a wider crypto market collapse, which has wiped out almost $300 billion from the value of cryptocurrencies over the last four days.

The second-largest coin, Ethereum, is down by 13% since last week, Solana – by more than 16%, and Terra (LUNA) – by more than 25%.

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Panic over soaring consumer prices and fears over the impact the crisis in Ukraine will have on the world economy have been named as reasons behind the crypto market crash, which is accompanied by a wider drop in stock markets around the world.

Last week, central banks in the US, UK, and other nations raised interest rates in an attempt to curb inflation, which has been rising at the fastest pace in decades, leading to warnings of recession.

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