- Ripple's XRP is down 79% from its all-time high, compared to bitcoin's 65%, and Ethereum's 52% drops.
- Crypto markets are used to extreme volatility, but now their wild price swings are coupled with stock market panic selling.
- You can track the price of 13 cryptocurrencies in real-time here>>
All cryptocurrencies have plunged off their all-time highs from this earlier winter.
The total value of all digital currencies has fallen 61% from its peak of over $826 billion on January 7, to just $320 billion Tuesday morning.
Ripple’s XRP, the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, seems to have experienced the worst of the selling. The token, designed for international payments and money transfers, is down 79% from its January high of $3.3153, falling to just $0.672 per token Tuesday morning.
- Bitcoin, still easily the most well-known and largest cryptocurrency comprising 36% of the total crypto market value, is down 65% from its high, currently trading at $6,752, according to Markets Insider data.
- Ethereum, the second-largest crypto by market cap is down 52%, from $1,420 to $669.
- Bitcoin cash is down 78%, from $4,053 to $862.
- Litecoin is down 66%, from $365 to $121.
In a note to clients Tuesday, Steve Strongin, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS)' head of global investment research, said the extreme correlation between cryptocurrency prices worried him.
"The high correlation between the different crypto currencies worries me," Strongin wrote. “Contrary to what one would expect in a rational market, new currencies don't seem to reduce the value of old currencies; they all seem to move as a single asset class.”
Last week, crypto prices were put under pressure by tech companies, as well as governments.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) on Friday announced it would ban all ads for bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and initial coin offerings (ICOs). At the same time, it was reported that US regulators had subpoenaed cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and cryptocurrency company Tether, further driving down prices.
To make things worse for an already volatile market, India’s finance minister, Arun Jaitley, said that the country’s government "does not consider cryptocurrencies legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate use of these crypto assets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payment system."
The heavy losses for crypto started just before a massive selloff struck equity markets around the world, sending indices like the Dow Jones industrial average plummeting.
Cryptocurrencies appeared to get a small boost off their weekly lows amid stock market panic selling, but their prices will likely continue to see extreme volatility.
The Dow Jones is set to open lower by more than 500 points Tuesday morning. You can track its price in real-time here.