Cryptocurrency market loses $1T as Bitcoin plummets

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Cryptocurrency market has lost almost $1 trillion since last week as of Wednesday, led by the world's largest coin Bitcoin plummeting to its lowest level since January.

Bitcoin tanked to $29,563 at 0900 EDT (1300GMT) -- the lowest level since Jan. 27, according to official data. It was trading just below $40,000 at 1300 EDT (1700EDT) as buyers stepped in to buy the dip that provided some support.

The world's largest crypto currency by market cap has lost almost half of its value since last week, after it hit a record high level of $64,300 last month.

The global cryptocurrency market's total market value stood above $2.5 trillion two weeks ago before falling to around $1.7 trillion as of Wednesday.

Wednesday's decline was attributed to China reporting earlier that it banned financial and payment institutions from crypto businesses.

The decline, however, has started last Wednesday when Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the American electric carmaker will not accept Bitcoin from customers for the sale of its vehicles -- a sudden U-turn from company's new policy made in late January that caused virtual coins to soar.

Musk has also been promoting an altcoin, Dogecoin, for the last few months, causing it enormous gains recently, which climbed to fourth spot in coin market capitalization as of last week.

As Bitcoin plummeted, Dogecoin among other altcoins, followed suit to tank as much as 50% on Wednesday.

Ethereum, the world's second largest coin, slid 30% in past 7 days, with 15% of that coming in the last 24 hours. Ethereum also witnessed major issues in its ETC20 network last week.