The price of Bitcoin fell by around 5pc on Sunday amid the growing fallout from Donald Trump’s trade war.
The world’s largest and best-known cryptocurrency tumbled to just under $79,000 (£61,500) by the end of the weekend, way below its peak of $106,000 in the wake of the US President’s election victory.
Etherium, the second biggest cryptocurrency globally, also slipped by around 9.6pc to just under $1,618.
The sell-off signals another potentially turbulent week for investors, as stock markets brace for the prospect of more steep losses.
Around $6 trillion was wiped from global markets last week following Mr Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs announcement, which confirmed aggressive levies on countries around the world.
Like stock markets, Bitcoin whipsawed as Mr Trump ramped up his trade war, with investors fearing the prospect of a global recession.
It comes after Donald Trump embraced cryptocurrency during his successful presidential campaign and has vowed to make the US the “undisputed Bitcoin superpower and crypto capital of the world”.
That is despite previously calling cryptocurrency a “scam” that affected the value of the dollar.
His U-Turn on crypto led to Mr Trump launching his own meme coin, $Trump.The value of his cryptocurrency initially surged following his January inauguration, although it has since fallen by 40pc in the last four weeks.
Melania Trump, the First Lady, also launched her own meme coin, although it has lost almost a third of its value over the past month.
Since returning to the White House, the US President has signed an executive order to create a so-called Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, stocked with coins seized by the government.
Mr Trump’s crypto tsar, David Sacks, has described the funds as a “digital Fort Knox for the cryptocurrency often called digital gold”.
While supporters of mainstream cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are seen by their supporters as a potential way to change payments and finance, meme coins have little use.
Instead, they are seen as a way of showing support for certain personalities or a form of gambling.
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