WASHINGTON: Bit­coin fell by as much as 6.5 per cent on Tuesday, on track for its largest one-day drop in two weeks, as a wave of selling hit cryptocurrencies and other risk assets, such as stocks.

The price was last down 5.86pc at $63,419, having dropped to a two-week low of $62,966, while ether fell 6.39pc to $3,283.

Bitcoin is still showing a 52pc gain for the year so far, as investors have piled into US exchange-traded funds backed by spot bitcoin.

The price hit a record high of nearly $74,000 on Thursday last week, which has triggered some profit-taking, along with a series of US data releases that suggested the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates this year as much as previously thought.

In the last week, bitcoin has fallen by nearly 9pc, set for its largest week-on-week decline since last September, while ether has lost 13pc following an upgrade to the underlying ethereum network. But performance has not been as weak across the broader crypto complex.

On Monday, crypto firm Galaxy Digital’s affiliate, Galaxy Asset Manage­ment, reported preliminary assets under management of $10.1 billion as of the end of February — a 24.8pc increase compared to the previous month, driven primarily by market appreciation, the company said.

Smaller tokens, known also as “altcoins”, have drawn in flows of their own. The solana network’s sol token has gained 19pc in the latest week, while avalanche’s avax coin has risen by 17pc, according to Coingecko.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2024