Cryptocurrency prices today plunge as Bitcoin falls below $21,000; dogecoin, Solana dip 7%

On the other hand, Ether, the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain and the second largest cryptocurrency, fell more than 3% at $1,175. Meanwhile, dogecoin price today was trading 7% lower at $0.07 whereas Shiba Inu tanked over 6% to $0.000011.

Other crypto prices’ today performance also declined as XRP, Tether, Solana, BNB, whereas Stellar, Litecoin, Polygon, Uniswap and Tron prices were trading with cuts over the last 24 hours, however, ApeCoin gained marginally.

Grayscale Investment LLC has recruited a couple of heavyweight partners to help with a bid to convert its Bitcoin trust into an exchange-traded fund. The firm has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, ticker GBTC, to become an ETF.

The trust, which has a market cap of about $13.6 billion and a premium of negative 32% to the price of Bitcoin, has enlisted Jane Street and Virtu as authorized participants if it does become an ETF. APs are specialized traders that have the right to create and redeem shares of an ETF, which is done to help keep the price close to its net asset value, reported Bloomberg.

Cryptocurrencies have suffered this year amid Federal Reserve rate hikes and stubbornly high inflation. After crypto’s last two-year hibernation ended in 2020, the sector spiked to around $3 trillion in total assets last November, before plunging to less than $1 trillion. Cryptocurrencies had been moving for months in the same direction as stocks as investor appetite for risk assets ebbed on growing fears about an economic downturn.

Coinbase Global Inc., Crypto.com, Gemini Trust and BlockFi Inc. are among the crypto companies to have announced swaths of layoffs, citing the general macroeconomic downturn for derailing their previously ever-expanding plans. The collapse of the Terra/Luna ecosystem and continued concern about hedge fund Three Arrows Capital Ltd. have further rattled investors.

(With inputs from agencies)

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