The crypto winter continues and nothing says that it is ready to end as the end of the year approaches.
The cryptocurrency market was again in sharp decline on October 13.
Bitcoin (BTC), the first digital currency by market value, has thus fallen below the symbolic threshold of $19,000, according to data firm CoinGecko. This is the first time BTC has moved to this level since September 22.
BTC prices are hovering around $18,756.12, down 2% in the past 24 hours, at last check. The cryptocurrency is now down 73% from its Nov. 10 all-time high of $69,044.77.
Ether (ETH) was down 4.2% at $1,244.75 in the past 24 hours. The second cryptocurrency by market value has lost roughly 75% of its value compared to $4,878.26, its record set on November 10, 2021.
With the exception of stablecoins, most digital currencies were down. Prices for digital currencies tied to decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystems, seen as the future of financial services, were down sharply. Cardano (ADA) was down 8.1%, Solana (SOL) was down 7.8% and Polkadot (DOT) was down 5.5%.
The meme coins were also in the red. Dogecoin (DOGE) was down 5.3% and Shiba Inu (SHIB) was down 7.1%.
Overall the cryptocurrency market was down 3.2% to $933 billion. The crypto market had reached $3 trillion in November 2021. But it lost over $2 trillion in less than a year.
Investors are liquidating cryptocurrencies because they fear that the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve (Fed) will cause a so-called hard landing for the economy aka recession.
The Fed is raising interest rates to crush inflation, which is at its highest in 40 years. This policy is criticized by many economists, who believe that the remedy against inflation comes too late and is too strong.
Most risky assets, including cryptocurrencies, or growth are the first victims of this monetary policy.
New inflation data is due on October 13 and should give investors an indication of the direction the Fed will take at its next monetary policy meeting in November.
