Advertisement
Canada markets closed
  • S&P/TSX

    22,167.03
    +59.95 (+0.27%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,254.35
    +5.86 (+0.11%)
     
  • DOW

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • CAD/USD

    0.7380
    -0.0006 (-0.09%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • Bitcoin CAD

    94,798.00
    -1,125.49 (-1.17%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • RUSSELL 2000

    2,124.55
    +10.20 (+0.48%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.2060
    +0.0100 (+0.24%)
     
  • NASDAQ

    16,379.46
    -20.06 (-0.12%)
     
  • VOLATILITY

    13.01
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • FTSE

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,369.44
    +201.37 (+0.50%)
     
  • CAD/EUR

    0.6846
    +0.0003 (+0.04%)
     

February Gains Disappear as Bitcoin Drops Below $9k

At around 13:00 UTC, bitcoin’s (BTC) price began dropping steadily, contributing to a 7 percent slide over the past 24 hours. Exchanges including Coinbase and Bitstamp saw declines in prices from $9,270 to below $8,700.

Crossing below the $9,000 price level is a new low for February 2020. Bitcoin has not traded below the $9,000 threshold since Jan. 27, when it began a march to new highs in the $10,500 range.

A flood of sell orders are sinking prices, as Coinbase hourly charts over the past 24 hours show.

Related: Bitcoin Sees Corrective Price Bounce After Hitting One-Month Lows

The sharp bitcoin drop comes as the traditional financial markets are recovering from a major selloff. In the U.S., the S&P 500 is off 5. 5 percent since the start of the week on fear the coronavirus could slow the global economy. Equities recovered a bit Wednesday, with the index showing a modest gain of half a percent by the midday.

ADVERTISEMENT

The traditional safe haven, gold, has been relatively steady. Its price has stayed in the $1,600 range so far this week and made a small gain Wednesday, up over $6 to $1,641 per troy ounce at press time.

“The fact that BTC could not rally in the face of the advance by gold prices and drop in equities was a ‘tell,’’” professional commodities trader Peter Brandt wrote in a recent tweet.

Other notable cryptocurrencies are also down, including bitcoin cash (BCH), ether (ETH) and XRP (XRP), with 24-hour losses of 11 percent, 10 percent and 9 percent, respectively, on Wednesday at 17:45 UTC.

Related Stories