%Cryptocurrency traders around the world lost $1 billion U.S. in the last 24 hours as the price of %Bitcoin ($BTC) suddenly fell nearly 10% to as low as $25,000 U.S.
Data from CoinGlass shows that crypto traders suffered heavy losses as Bitcoin endured one of its worst selloffs of the past year, dropping to a two-month low.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is currently trading at $26,400 U.S. after plunging to nearly $25,000 U.S. in overnight trading.
As a result, about $821 million U.S. of long positions (bets that Bitcoin’s price will rise) have been wiped out, according to CoinGlass.
A further $300 million U.S. has been lost on Ethereum (ETH) long positions as that cryptocurrency has fallen more than 3% in the past 24 hours, pulled lower by Bitcoin’s collapse.
The sudden drop in cryptocurrency prices comes amid growing fears of Chinese economic woes, rising bond yields, and a broad selloff in stocks around the world.
There was some speculation that the sharp decline in Bitcoin was due to reports that Elon Musk’s company SpaceX wrote down the value of its Bitcoin holdings by $373 million U.S.
However, some crypto analysts are refuting that report as being the cause of the downturn in Bitcoin, saying that the current selloff is due to multiple factors impacting crypto sentiment.
Bitcoin had rallied in this year’s first half, climbing more than 75% and trading above $30,000 U.S. With the latest decline, the price of Bitcoin is now up 60% on the year.