The cryptocurrency market lost $270 billion on Sunday due to the collapse of bitcoin and ether

The cryptocurrency market lost $270 billion on Sunday as investors continued to sell off risky assets, CNBC reports.

Led by an 11% drop in Bitcoin over the past 24 hours and a 21% plunge in Ether, the total value of cryptocurrencies fell by approximately $270 billion, according to CoinGecko data.

The decline in the cryptocurrency market coincided with a broader decline in stocks in the Asia-Pacific markets. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped by up to 7%, extending losses that began last week after the Bank of Japan announced it would raise the benchmark interest rate to the highest level in 16 years.

In the US, the Nasdaq fell by 3.4% last week, entering correction territory, marking the worst three-week period for the tech index since September 2022, when the market was in free fall. Amazon and Nvidia contributed to the declines.

Last week’s stock market decline was partly attributed to disappointing earnings, a weaker-than-expected jobs report, rising unemployment, and a downturn in the manufacturing sector. The US Federal Reserve opted to keep the benchmark rate stable and did not promise a rate cut in September, which many market experts had included in their forecasts. Lower interest rates tend to be correlated with better performance for risky assets.

The price of Bitcoin hit its lowest level since February, trading at around $54,000. It is still up nearly 23% this year.

The price of Ether, the native token underpinning the Ethereum blockchain, dropped to around $2,300, erasing its gains for the year. Binance’s BNB token fell by over 15%, and Solana is trading 10% lower. Investors are also looking for new trade data from China and Taiwan this week, as well as central bank decisions from India and Australia.

The latest crypto wipeout will be felt by a broader base of investors, following the SEC’s approval of new spot-traded funds for Bitcoin and Ether earlier this year. ETFs have seen hundreds of millions of dollars flowing into the currencies. On Friday, CNBC reported that Morgan Stanley will soon allow its 15,000 financial advisors to offer Bitcoin ETFs to its clients, a first for Wall Street.