Cryptocurrency prices plunged as investors liquidated more than $1 billion worth of digital coins on Thursday after it was reported that Elon Musk’s SpaceX sold off its bitcoin holdings.
On Thursday, bitcoin fell 7.2% in its biggest one-day drop since November 2022 when top exchange FTX collapsed. Bitcoin then slipped to a two-month low of $26,172 during Asian trading hours on Friday, its lowest since June 1.
Analysts said cryptocurrencies also appeared to be getting hit as rising interest rates slammed riskier assets across the board including stocks. By early Friday Eastern time, bitcoin was changing hands at $26,441, down 0.8% on the day.
Ether, the second-biggest cryptocurrency, was steady at $1,685.20, having also dropped sharply on Thursday.
SpaceX, which is owned by crypto enthusiast Musk, wrote down the value of its bitcoin holdings by $373 million in the past two years before selling them off, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited internal financial documents from the privately owned rocket-launching