
Please try another search
By Tom Wilson
LONDON (Reuters) - The cryptocurrency market took a beating on Tuesday with bitcoin losing over 10% in value after U.S. lawmakers grilled Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) on its cryptocurrency plans, as political and regulatory scrutiny of digital coins intensifies.
The social media giant is fighting to get Washington onside after it shocked regulators and lawmakers with its announcement on June 18 that it was hoping to launch its own digital coin called Libra in 2020.
David Marcus, the company's top executive overseeing the planned Libra project, answered questions from the Senate Banking Committee. During the hearing, a U.S. senator said Facebook was "delusional" to believe people will trust it with their money.
Facebook's Libra plan, which is seen as a major step for wider adaptation of virtual currencies, has helped stoke this year's rally in bitcoin, ethereum and other digital coins.
"Libra is essentially slammed in the Senate," said Lennon Sweeting, head trader at Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd. "It's just headline-driven volatility."
Digital currencies will likely recover with bitcoin returning to a $11,000-$12,000 trading range, Sweeting said.
At 2:56 p.m. (1856 GMT), bitcoin fell 11.69% to $9,582.12 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange. It fell below $10,000 for the first time in two weeks.
The world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency climbed to nearly $14,000 in late June, not long after Facebook unveiled its Libra plan. That was still far below its record high of nearly $20,000 set at end of 2017.
Ethereum, the No. 2 virtual currency, lost 13.32% to $198.2 after hitting $190.41, which was its lowest level since May 13.
Other widely followed currencies such as ripple were down 8% on the day.
(GRAPHIC - Cyptocurrencies: https://tmsnrt.rs/2k6cZo6)
By Byron Kaye SYDNEY (Reuters) -Oaktree Capital Group proposed bankrolling a A$3 billion ($2.3 billion) buyback by Australian casino company Crown Resorts Ltd of its founder's...
By Swati Pandey SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares hovered near 1-1/2 week highs on Monday helped by expectations monetary policy will remain accommodative the world over, while...
By Renju Jose SYDNEY (Reuters) - Hundreds of passengers thronged Australian airports on Monday as an open border system began with New Zealand, a pandemic milestone that allows...
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
I feel that this comment is:
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.