Bitcoin price suddenly collapses, wiping billions off people’s investments
Support truly
independent journalism
Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.
Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.
Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.
![Louise Thomas](https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/support-us/louise-thomas.png)
Louise Thomas
Editor
Bitcoin has suffered a massive price crash amid difficulties with El Salvador’s rollout of a new law making the cryptocurrency legal tender.
The price fell from above $52,500 to below $44,000 on Tuesday, according to CoinMarketCap.
It has since recovered slightly and is trading back above $46,000, at the time of writing.
Follow all the latest crypto market updates with The Independent’s live blog
Several other leading cryptocurrencies also suffered heavy losses, including ethereum (ether), cardano (ada) and binance coin.
“Horrible chart damage being done in BTC and the rest of the crypto market, tweeted crypto analyst and author Glen Goodman.
“Bitcoin just bounced cleanly off the previous resistance line. Is this a retest of that line or the start of something much worse?”
![](https://static.independent.co.uk/2021/09/07/16/bitcoin%20flash%20crash.jpg)
The price correction has wiped hundreds of billions from the overall market, which was worth more than $2.35 trillion at the start of the day.
Leading cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase experienced issues as people rushed to their portfolios to either cash out or buy the dip.
The company said it was “aware transactions are currently delayed or cancelled at elevated rates and our apps may be experiencing errors”.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments