$150 billion wiped off cryptocurrency market in 24 hours as bitcoin pulls back

GUANGZHOU, China — Bitcoin and other digital coins tanked on Monday, wiping some $150 billion off the cryptocurrency market.

The market capitalization or value of the cryptocurrency market was $931 billion around 6:00 p.m. ET, down from $1.08 trillion a day earlier, according to Coinmarketcap.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, fell over 10% from a day earlier to $34,200, according to Coin Metrics data. It earlier sank to an intraday low of $30,863. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, was down 15% to $1,060. It briefly tumbled below $1,000, hitting an intraday low of $945.

The sell-off in cryptocurrencies comes after a huge rally and perhaps signals some profit-taking from investors. Bitcoin is still up over 300% in the last 12 months and last week hit an all-time high just below $42,000.

“The correction we saw was expected as we believe the BTC price surge recently from under $20,000 to $40,000 in the past four weeks will induce sell pressure,” said Simons Chen, executive director of investment and trading at cryptocurrency financial services firm Babel Finance.

Bitcoin’s resurgence has been attributed to a number of factors including more buying from large institutional investors and K-P Assembly Passes Resolution Legalizing Cryptocurrency

And it has also been likened to “digital gold”, a potential safe-haven asset and a hedge against inflation. In a recent research note, JPMorgan said bitcoin could hit $146,000 in the long term as it competes with gold as an “alternative” currency. The investment bank’s strategists noted, however, that bitcoin would have to become substantially less volatile to reach this price. Bitcoin is known for wild price swings.