Bitcoin is down 3% on Wednesday morning while other major cryptos are down as much as 9%.

The entire cryptocurrency market has lost 20% of its value over the last 2 weeks, according to FXPro.

You can follow live cryptocurrency prices on Markets Insider.



LONDON — The price of bitcoin is slipping on Wednesday, extending a poor run for the digital currency.

Bitcoin is down almost 3% to $6,521.47 at 12.45 a.m. BST (7.45 a.m. ET). Over the last 24 hours, it is down around 7%. The cryptocurrency has fallen 13% since the start of the month.

Analysts at the London Block Exchange said in an email on Wednesday that the latest slump appears to have been triggered by a US Securities and Exchange Commission's announcement late on Tuesday. The regulator announced it is postponing a decision on whether to approve or deny a bitcoin ETF product from CBOE until September.

The market has been waiting for a long time for a regulated ETF product to hit the market as traders believe it will bring new money into the market. The postponement appears to have put off many bulls who had bet on an authorisation this week from the SEC.

Matthew Newton, an analyst at trading platform eToro, said in an email: "A green light for the bitcoin ETF would fire the starting gun on a race among institutional investors to cash-in on this new product. The market is therefore rightly frustrated by the delay to the decision."

Other major digital tokens are also under pressure on Wednesday:

Analysts for FXPro, a London-based foreign exchange broker, said in an email on Tuesday: "The crypto market cap lost 20% in the last 2 weeks, falling from $300 billion to $250 billion. Although analysts remain bullish on the BTC perspectives, currently they warn us to be cautious.

"In the short terms, technical analysis is still on the bears’ side. The benchmark currency [bitcoin] doesn’t have important levels of consolidation near current trading marks. It means that after a short pause the bitcoin could slide down to the nearest consolidation level close to $6,200 mark, and even lower to $5,800."

Recent positive news has failed to provide much support for bitcoin. ICE, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, announced plans earlier in the week to launch a new platform in partnership with Microsoft and Starbucks that aims to bring bitcoin and other digital assets more into the mainstream. It did little to support bitcoin's price.

A report released on Wednesday found that ICO tokens — digital assets issued by startups to raise cash for projects — had an average return of -55% in the second quarter, pointing to extended weakness across the sector.

See also: