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Bitcoin has fallen by more than 10% on Friday hitting a low of $3332 – its lowest level since September 2017 – which precipitated other cryptocurrencies to see similar declines in what is the second major sell-off this quarter.
The decline followed an announcement by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that delayed the decision deadline for the creation of the first US bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) until next year.
“Sentiment in the market is really bad, any negative news has an exponential effect,” said Timothy Tam, co-founder and CEO of CoinFi, a cryptocurrency research firm in an interview with Bloomberg.
Ethereum, Litecoin and XRP dragged down by Bitcoin decline
The Bitcoin sell-off prompted other major coins to see similar declines, with Ethereum down 14.52% to $84.76 as of 12:00pm GMT on Friday.
Similar losses were see by rival cryptocurrencies, with Litecoin and Ripple (XRP) falling by more than 10% on Friday.
Cryptocurrencies have eroded more than $730 billion in value after hitting their peak back in January, according to data from CoinMarketCap.com.
SEC delays Bitcoin ETF... again
On Thursday, the SEC said it will once again postpone its decision on whether to approve the creation of a Bitcoin ETF.
The new deadline set by the US regulator is 27 February 2019, where it looks at proposed rule changes to allow investment firm VanEck and blockchain company SolidX to list a Bitcoin ETF on the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
‘The Commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to issue an order approving or disapproving the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider this proposed rule change,’ the regulator said in a recent document.
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