Cryptocurrencies hit hard as Ethereum falls to 16-month low

Traders in cryptocurrencies were hoping for prices to hold on Monday, only to see bitcoin slide another 5% during the early hours of trading, with the cryptocurrency hovering at around the $5250 level.

The tumble that bitcoin suffered helped drag other altcoins down too, with Ethereum falling to $152, representing a 10% decline and the lowest level the cryptocurrency has reached in the last 16 months.

Ripple and litecoin losses

With two of the biggest cryptocurrencies suffering large losses, it is unsurprising that other coins also suffered, with ripple (XRP) and litecoin seeing significant declines too.

In fact, XRP is down 5% and currently sitting at around $0.48 levels. However, it is worth noting that despite suffering losses, XRP faired far better than its rival Ethereum, which saw its market cap tumble to around $16.5 billion, after losing roughly $1.6 billion in value after a painful few days of trading.

The loss that Ethereum experienced was XRP’s gain, with the altcoin’s size exceeding its rival, making it the second-largest cryptocurrency in the market in terms of market cap.

Elsewhere in the market, litecoin, cardano and monero all were unable to escape the downward momentum, with all three cryptocurrencies losing more than 10% of their value over the last 24 hours.

Crypto loses its hold

Monday marks yet another dismal day of trading for cryptocurrencies, with the market falling to its lowest levels so far this year, with traders seeing more than $35 billion in value wiped off the table and left scratching their heads as to when the market will rise again.

But many analysts, including those at Bloomberg Intelligence, believe that there is worse still to come, with bitcoin’s price expected to fall to as low as $1500, representing a 70% decline in the price, which would likely drag the value of other altcoins to the point of becoming virtually worthless.