Bitcoin leads market-wide downturn as Russia fears rise
Bitcoin led a market-wide sell-off Thursday night Asia time by losing almost 8% coming into business hours Friday Asia time, and was trading at US$40,578 at press time.
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Fast facts
All other major tokens were down around the same amount, with Ethereum falling 8% over 24 hours to trade at US$2,897 at press time, according to CoinMarketCap.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) darling Terra was among the biggest losers, trading down as much as 12% to sit at US$50.63 at press time.
Tech stocks on the Nasdaq also had a poor day, with Nasdaq’s 100 Tech sector index closing down 4.2% leading into Asian business hours.
Rising military tensions between Russia and Ukraine has continued to drive uncertainty across markets as the U.S. warns Russia may conduct a false flag operation as a pretext for invasion after seemingly looking to draw back from the conflict earlier in the week.
Asia is also facing uncertainty this week with Hong Kong set to test the entire city amid rising Covid-19 cases and strict restrictions.
See related article: Bitcoin and Ethereum prices soar to new all-time highs, crypto market now worth $3 trillion