The price of bitcoin has plunged below $60,000 amid a market-wide crash.
Ethereum (ether), Binance Coin and Solana (SOL) were among several other leading cryptocurrencies to also tumble in value, dipping by between 5-10 per cent on Tuesday morning.
The price crash comes less than a week after bitcoin hit a new all-time high of close to $69,000.
The overall crypto market fell by more than $200 billion overnight to around $2.6 trillion, having briefly teased $3 trillion during the record-breaking rally last week.
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The reason for the price crash is not immediately clear, with several factors potentially contributing to the slide.
Among them are a renewed crackdown on BTC mining in China, the rejection by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), and long-term investors skimming off profits from their holdings.
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