Bitcoin falls below $58,000 as bears rule the roost

ISLAMABAD: The cryptocurrency market extended losses for the third session in a row on Wednesday, with the market capitalization losing 3.8 percent to reach $2.28 trillion. As of 1240 hours GMT, the price of Bitcoin, the world’s oldest and most valued cryptocurrency, slipped to $57,992 with a dip of 5.2 percent in the last 24 hours. The market capitalization of the biggest crypto has reached $1.142 trillion with this decrease. Bitcoin has been 12.9 percent down in the past seven days. Bitcoin fell for a third day on Wednesday, having posted its worst monthly performance in April since late 2022, as investors pulled money out of cryptocurrencies ahead of an interest rate decision by the Federal Reserve later. The value of the world’s most traded cryptocurrency fell by nearly 16% in April, as investors booked profits on a sizzling rally that has taken the price to record highs above $70,000. Bitcoin was last down 4.7% to $57,055, its lowest since late February, while losses in ether were more modest, down 3.6% at $2,857, also at its weakest since February. The price of bitcoin is now a full 22% below March’s record of $73,803, technically putting it in a bear market. But it is still up 35% so far this year and double where it was this time last year, thanks in large part to the billions of dollars flowing into newly minted exchange-traded funds since January. Similarly, Ether (ETH), the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, shed 3 percent to reach $2,917. With this decrease in price, the market capitalization of ETH has reached $356 billion. ETH has shed 11.1 percent of its value during the last seven days. TLTP