Cryptocurrency market loses nearly $100 billion after bitcoin tanks

The global cryptocurrency market capitalisation is $1.2 trillion, a decline of over percent in the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap (Image: Reuters)

The cryptocurrency market lost around $98 billion after bitcoin plunged to below $30,000 for the first time in four weeks.

The global cryptocurrency market capitalisation declined to $1.2 trillion, a fall of over percent in the past 24 hours, data from CoinMarketCap shows.

Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, was trading at slightly above $29,600, over 6 percent lower than the previous day.

Ether and dogecoin were down more than 8 percent, while binance tanked more than 12 percent.

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The tumble in bitcoin's price came after a sell-off in global markets, sparked by a surge in COVID-19 infections. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.1 percent on July 19, its worst day since October 2020.

"There's been a broad sell-off in global markets, risk assets are down across the board," Annabelle Huang, partner at cryptocurrency financial services firm Amber Group told CNBC.

Huang told the news channel that there are "concerns of the quality and strength of economic recovery" and "broader risk assets turned weaker including high yields".

"Coupled with recent BTC (bitcoin) weakness, this just sent crypto market down further," she said.