Investing.com – Bitcoin fell below $8,000 on Wednesday as ongoing negative sentiment forced traders to abandon their bullish crypto holdings, wiping more than $30 billion off the crypto market.
Bitcoin fell 7.34% to $7,589.4 on the Bitfinex exchange from a high of $8,196.8.
Bitcoin’s plunge below $8,000 appeared to attract a wave of selling as some said the move lower was a sign that upside momentum in the popular crypto was diminishing amid falling demand.
The total market cap of cryptocurrencies fell to about $333 billion, at the time of writing, down from about $367 billion on Tuesday, reflecting the negative sentiment on cryptos amid fears of a regulatory crackdown.
The cryptocurrency industry has become a “farce” as the light-natured regulation of the industry, where barriers to creating a new cryptocurrency is “zero,” was attracting increased levels of fraudulent activity, said Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari on Tuesday.
Kashikari tempered his comments somewhat saying “there will probably be a shakeout, and maybe a handful of these things [cryptocurrencies] will end up surviving.”
Bitcoin has struggled to mount a recovery following its unsuccessful attempts to rally above $10,000 earlier in the month. A recent step up in regulatory efforts in South Korea and North America has sparked uncertainty through the crypto industry, crippling upside momentum in cryptos.
Ripple XRP fell 8.65% to $0.60752 on the Poloniex exchange, while Ethereum fell 14.95% to $592.89.
Bitcoin Cash fell 12.17% to $1031.19, while Litecoin fell 7.49% to $122.09.