Red Tuesday: Bitcoin Plunges Below $30k As Selloff Deepens

The cryptocurrency market was painted red on Tuesday, with bitcoin breaking below the $30,000 mark for the first time since January. 

Bitcoin has now blown off almost all of its gains this year after it rallied to near $65,000 in April. As of report time, bitcoin was down 11 percent trading at $28,981.

Other cryptocurrencies were hit harder, with Dash tumbling 22 percent, XRP falling 21 percent and Litecoin stumbling 18percent. Among more volatile DeFi tokens, Prude was down 68 percent and Manyswap tumbled 60 percent, according to data on CoinMarketCap.com.

Chart-watchers are saying Bitcoin, which failed to retake $40,000 last week, could have a tough time finding support in the $20,000 range following its drop below $30,000. Still, Bitcoin had prior to Tuesday breached $30,000 during at least five separate instances this year but recuperated to trade above that level each time.

It’s a remarkable comedown for the digital asset which just weeks ago was trekking higher amid a warmer embrace from Wall Street as well as retail investors. But negative press about its energy use, brought on largely by Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk, as well as a clampdown from China have pushed it lower in recent weeks.

The $30,000 support level had held steady during a selloff last month that saw it wipe out roughly 35 percent for the month of May.