Ripple, Ethereum And Bitcoin Crashes More, About $120 Billion Wipe Off Crypto Market

Cryptocurrency markets are swung wildly on Friday, after a major early morning crash gave way to an afternoon rebound.

During European morning trade on Friday, the price of virtually every major cryptocurrency dropped more than 15% as investors remained spooked following bitcoin's fall below the key $9,000 support level on Thursday.

"The wheels are coming off the bitcoin bandwagon," Neil Wilson, a senior market analyst with ETX Capital, said in an email this morning.

"The regulatory crunch appears closer than ever and sooner or later this market could be headed back down to earth. Selling pressure at the moment is intense as there has been nothing but bad news for bitcoin bulls of late."




Bitcoin crashed as low as $7,700 during the collapse, losing roughly 15% of its value at one point. Other major cryptos fell even further, with Ethereum down as much as 23% at one point.

By the European afternoon, however, prices have bounced back sharply, and by 4.50 p.m. GMT (11.45 a.m. ET) bitcoin was actually in positive territory on the day, trading at $9,130.

Although there was no immediately obvious catalyst for the rebound, it coincided with the East Coast of the USA waking up, suggesting that American traders were engaging in a bout of dip-buying.

Market capitalisation is an inexact measure of cryptocurrencies (as Business Insider Australia's Sam Jacobs has outlined), but it at least gives a good idea of the scale of the ongoing sell-off.

The crypto market has been on the back foot since the start of the year, hit by fears of a regulatory crackdown and slipping Asian volumes. Bitcoin is now at less than half its December peak of over $19,000.

More concerns have emerged about the sector this week as Facebook banned cryptocurrency advertisements and US regulators began investigating tether, a cryptocurrency that some fear has been used to inflate the value of bitcoin.

India's finance minister also said this week that the Indian government "does not consider cryptocurrencies legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate use of these crypto-assets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payment system."

50 CENT MADE MILLIONS FROM RECEIVING BITCOINS AS PAYMENT FOR HIS 2014 ALBUM

Remember all those jokes about 50 Cent being broke? Well, thanks to bitcoin he's getting the last laugh.

Just call him a "bitcoin baller."

Back in 2014, 50 got in on the bitcoin game early. When he released his "Animal Ambition" album, he accepted cryptocurrency as a form of payment. At the time, one bitcoin was valued at $662. He allowed his fans to pay with a fraction of a whole bitcoin, and, after all was said and done, he hauled in about 700 bitcoin, TMZ reported. At the time, 700 bitcoin was valued at $400,000.

TMZ reported the 50 didn't touch his bitcoin account for years and it was all-but dormant.

Now, though, 50 is looking like a financial genius. Bitcoin's value has skyrocketed and the value sits between $10k and $12k per coin. His 700 bitcoin's from that album are now valued at between $7 million and $8.5 million.

Interestingly, the album's sales were overall quite lackluster. In 2014, 50 told MTV that he was "satisfied" with the sales, but he certainly didn't seem thrilled. It was actually one of 50's worst-selling albums.

Who knew that in due time, it would turn out to be one of his most profitable. Like he said in 2003, Get Rich or Die Tryin'.

Couple That Invested in Bitcoin at $800. Now It's $17,000 and They're Donating Everything to a Cancer Hospital

Tech investors Halle Tecco and Jeff Hammerbacher invested in Bitcoin back in 2013 when it was selling for around $800. Now that the cryptocurrency has surged more than 2000%, they’re donating the entire portfolio to a South Carolina cancer hospital.

The couple did not say how much the investment is worth, but considering Bitcoin’s price has gone up to $17,000, the donation is estimated at hundreds of thousands of dollars, CNBC reported. Tecco and Hammerbacher’s donation will fund cancer research at Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C. The hospital will now have to decide whether to convert the Bitcoin donation into dollars.

“We pretty much forgot about it for a few years (the Bitcoin investment) and then this year, it got interesting,” Tecco told CNBC.

Photo by Steve Jennings—Getty Images for TechCrunch)

 

Steve Jennings 2013 Getty Images

Tacco is the co-founder of digital health investment firm Rock Health, and Hammerbacher was a Facebook data scientist and is now an assistant professor at the medical school. The husband and wife duo co-run an angel fund called Techammer. They told CNBC that they wanted to publicize their donation in the hope that it would inspire others to follow suit.

“The investor community that as benefited from the Bitcoin craze should use this foresight (and luck!) to help others. We hope we are just the first,” Tecco told CNBC via text.