There was a cryptocurrency bloodbath in the last 24 hours as around $300 billion was wiped off the market.
The market is now worth $2.08 trillion, with the 11,600 coins crashing 12%.
On Tuesday El Salvador became the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender but the digital currency stopped functioning and the markets fell spectacularly in a huge sell-off.
At the time of writing (7am UK), market leader Bitcoin (BTC) is around $46,700 after a 12% fall but, in better news for investors, staged a late rally is only 2% down on its price last Wednesday.
Ripple’s XRP fared the worst among the majors. Having topped the recent high water mark of $1.30 from a couple of weeks ago on Tuesday, it crashed 20% to $1.11 and is now 9% down in a week.
The record run of Solana, which recently overtook Dogecoin as the world’s seventh most valuable cryptocurrency, came to an abrupt end as SOL dropped 11% to $164.
However the token – linked to an open-source project designed to facilitate the creation of decentralised apps – was worth just $1.84 at the start of the year and remains almost 50% higher than its position a week ago.
Smart contract blockchain platform Ethereum, whose ETH token is the world’s second most valuable crypto, was closing on $4,000 on Tuesday morning but dropped 12% in the last 24 hours to below $3,500. It is more than 2% down over seven days.
Cardano (ADA), the third most valuable crypto, dropped 12%. The proof-of-stake blockchain platform was above $3 last Thursday but is now below $2.50 – 11% down in a week.
Binance Coin (BNB) plummeted 16% to $415 and is 12% down over seven days.
Meme coin Dogecoin (DOGE) also dropped like a stone, shedding 16% – equivalent to 5 cents – to sit at 25c. It is 9% down over seven days.
Polkadot (DOT) is at $27.76 after a massive 22% fall and 10% down in a week.
To see how the valuations of the biggest movers and shakers – and main coins – have changed over the last few days, click here.
For valuations of the top 250 coins by market cap (updated every 15 minutes), their market cap plus 24-hour price change and volume traded, see below.
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Cryptocurrency