Significant cryptocurrencies took a beating on Tuesday, and the rout was led by Bitcoin which slipped to $6000, the lowest in six weeks. Reuters had even more bad news and reported that Bitcoin fell as much as six percent to a low of $5,880, its weakest since June 29. In January, the digital currency was traded at a high of $17,234.99. The downfall was precipitated by the delay in its decision on a bitcoin ETF by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Bitcoin value at its lowest

It is a fall from grace for Bitcoin which is at present at its lowest levels among major, and the XRP has fallen to double digits.

The past 24 hours have seen almost $19 Billion wiped out from the cryptocurrency market capitalization.

Bank Head terms Bitcoin a Ponzi scheme

The incumbent head of the Bank for International Settlements, Agustín Carstens has termed the cryptocurrency as a bubble or Ponzi scheme. He also called cryptocurrencies a threat for the traditional world financial order and also signaled a global clampdown. Mr. Carstens was speaking at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany and said that if governments do not take pre-emptive action, cryptocurrencies will invade the financial market and cause a financial meltdown.

Bitcoin’s competitors also did not fare well and even took the brunt of the rout. Ethereum blockchain, XRP, and Ripple's digital asset all lost heavily. Ether lost 6 percent value and stood at $270 at 1.53 ET.

XRP also fell 5.7 percent and held at 26 cents.

Charles Hayter, chief executive of digital comparison site CryptoCompare said the downfall was caused by the delay of a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) promoted by VanEck and Solid X. Cryptocurrencies had hit a high in July in the hope that Bitcoin supported exchange-traded fund will lure new investors.

However, US regulators are dragging their feet on backing such proposals. This coupled with growing fears that entrepreneurs who had raised money by Crypto dominated initial coin offerings will make profits out of holdings such as Ethereum blockchain which is the dominant platform for crypto projects.

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