Cryptocurrency markets have slumped to a 10-month low amid fears investors are losing interest and the intervention from the U.S. regulators who suspended trading in two securities linked to digital assets.
Bitcoin (BTC) lost about 2% over the past 24-hour trading cycle, and its biggest rival
Ethereum (ETH) fell 8.9% while the market capitalization of digital assets tracked by
Einstein Exchange shrank to US$197 billion – down about US$640 billion from its January 2018 peak.
CLICK BELOW FOR LIVE CRYPTOCURRENCY PRICE INDEXES:
Cryptocurrencies have been on the slide for five of the past six weeks amid wider concerns the adoption of digital assets is taking longer than anticipated.
These fears intensified when Ethereum co-founder
Vitalik Buterin said the days of explosive growth in the blockchain industry had
probably already come and gone.
His comments came over the weekend as the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) intervened in halting trading in two cryptocurrency-related products because of confusion over the nature of the financial products.
The regulator said that broker-dealer application materials and trading websites characterized the products as exchange-traded funds (ETFs) - listed funds that track a basket of assets.
SEC officials cited a "confusion amongst market participants" based in the U.S. as to the nature of the financial instruments as the reason for the move.
They said their decision was in "the public interest" and that it was line with its mandate to ensure the "protection of investors."
Ryan Rabaglia, head of trading at cryptocurrency dealing firm OSL in Hong Kong, said: “The temporary suspension of these products led to an initial knee-jerk reaction but ultimately, it’s just another obstacle for the market to overcome.”
Cryptocurrencies remained under pressure despite reports that banking giant Citigroup Inc has developed a
new mechanism for investing in the space.
