Bitcoin dips below $20,000 — Saudi Gazette

LONDON — Bit­coin dipped below $20,000, con­tin­u­ing a drop that has tak­en it down near­ly 60% from its year high.

Bit­coin, the world’s biggest and best-known cryp­tocur­ren­cy, was last down 1.5% at $19,946, down $298 from its pre­vi­ous close.

It is down 58.7% from the year’s high of $48,234 hit on March 28.

Ether, the coin linked to the Ethereum blockchain net­work, mean­while dipped 2.76 % to $1,467.2, los­ing $41.60 from its pre­vi­ous close, Reuters reported.

Bit­coin’s fall comes after a weak day on Fri­day for the cur­ren­cy, which fell as Wall Street slumped with all three bench­marks end­ing more than 3% lower.

The weak­ness in risk assets came after Fed­er­al Reserve Chief Jerome Pow­ell cau­tioned against expect­ing a swift end to its rate tightening.

The Fed’s actions on inter­est rates caused some investors to fore­cast more pain for equities.

“Bit­coin broke below 20,000 as investors expect a week­end full of pes­simism from Jack­son Hole to drag down sen­ti­ment,” Edward Moya, senior mar­ket ana­lyst at OANDA.

“Euro­pean and Asian cen­tral bankers will like­ly be much more pes­simistic than Fed Chair Pow­ell and that has many traders brac­ing for a weak open on Sun­day night,” he added.

Bit­coin was last below $20,000 in mid-July. — Agencies