Crypto markets have turned red after top digital assets exchange Bybit was hit by a $1.4 billion hack, plus investors were spooked by renewed inflation concerns.
CoinGecko data shows that big digital coins Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP are all down, among other high-cap coins.
Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency, is trading for $96,300, a more than 2% drop over the past day, while Ethereum’s price has dropped further—by 3%—and stands at $2,669.
Meanwhile, XRP, the third-biggest digital asset, has plunged by nearly 6% and is trading hands for $2.56.
The O.G. meme coin and eighth-biggest virtual asset, Dogecoin, has shed 4% of its value. Its price is currently around $0.244.
And the entire crypto market stands at $3.3 trillion after having dropped by more than 3% over the last day.
Futures traders are also getting hit hard: In the past day, over 192,000 traders have been liquidated, with $570 million in total of positions closed in 24 hours, according to CoinGlass.
U.S. equities also took a hit Friday after investors sold on weaker-than-expected economic data that showed that inflation might not be going away soon. Crypto has tended to move in line with stocks as it is a “risk-on” asset.
The University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers revealed that Americans fear inflation may be here to stay as President Donald Trump aggressively pursues his tariff policy.
The Friday dip in prices also comes after hackers targeted crypto exchange Bybit. The Singapore-based exchange lost over $1.4 billion worth of Ethereum and related assets on Friday morning.
Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou said Friday that the firm was experiencing “massive withdrawals” following the hack.
The exchange is still seeking answers regarding the theft, but suggested that a large transaction had been “masked” or altered so that the funds were sent to the attackers’ wallet. Zhou said in a livestream that it was possible that thieves managed to hack the computers of all signers authorizing transactions.
He added that the exchange was seeking a bridge loan to help return customer funds, and that it could cover all losses.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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Mathew Di Salvo
https://decrypt.co/307263/bitcoin-xrp-dogecoin-sink-inflation-bybit-hack
2025-02-21 19:26:45
