Bitcoin falls as crypto gets caught up in Evergrande selloff
The digital currency has dropped 5.7% in the last 24 hours, and was trading at $42,955 per coin as of 2:43 am ET on Tuesday, according to cryptocurrency tracker Experts have characterized Evergrande’s struggles as a major test for Beijing, with some worrying about whether the company risks creating China’s Edward Moya, senior market analyst of the Americas at Oanda, said on Monday that bitcoin was no different from other assets.”The fallout from the Evergrande is putting a tremendous dent in risk appetite that is sending everything lower,” he wrote in a note to clients. Moya noted that cryptocurrencies had performed well this year, “despite all the volatility.””So it should not surprise Wall Street they are the first asset sold in the beginning of China-driven market selloff,” as investors aim to cash in, he added. Others have taken the occasion to double down. Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador who is known for his bullish stance on bitcoin, tweeted Monday that “we just bought the dip.” The country purchased 150 bitcoins, and now holds 700 coins, he added.Earlier this month, Bukele announced that El Salvador had become the world’s first country to adopt the digital currency as legal tender.-— Anneken Tappe and Laura He contributed to this report.
