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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Carol Alexander

After the FTX crash, here’s what you need to know – the crypto bubble is already bursting

The FTX logo and a representation of cryptocurrencies.
‘One can liken the current circumstances in crypto markets to the burst of the dotcom bubble in 2001.’ Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters

Following the bankruptcy of one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, FTX, the price of bitcoin (BTC) has tumbled again. It is now about $16,500 – a far cry from the all-time high of $66,000 just a year ago.

Why such a large drop in value? It’s because of the highly toxic combination of an exchange (an electronic platform for buying and selling) called Binance, a stablecoin (a crypto whose price is pegged 1:1 to the US dollar or another “fiat” currency) called tether, and the skilled professional traders running high-frequency algorithms.

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