ABC News Today

Cryptocurrencies fell sharply on Friday, with the sudden selloff dragging bitcoin to a three-week low. The price of Bitcoin fell as much as 7.7% to $21,404 in a few minutes during the European morning, around 06:40 GMT. It recovered slightly and then continued its downward trajectory to trade around $21,400 at 1138 GMT, down 8.2% on the day.

Ether also fell at the same time, down 8.8% to $1,685. The reason for the termination was not clear.

“It doesn’t show the pattern of a quick fall as assets didn’t bounce back quickly, but sank further down in the hours that followed,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown .

“It seems likely that this was as a result of a large sale transaction.”

Streeter said it appeared that the cardano cryptocurrency had been the first to move, followed by bitcoin and ether, and then others such as the altcoin dogecoin.

Cryptocurrencies have fallen sharply so far this year as Federal Reserve rate hikes and ultra-high inflation drive investors away from riskier assets.

Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said Bitcoin’s failure to recoup its losses “suggests there is substance to the move.”

Such sudden moves are common in the highly volatile cryptocurrency market. On June 15, bitcoin fell more than 15% as investors were spooked by the collapse of the so-called stablecoin, TerraUSD, and a major cryptocurrency lender freezing customer withdrawals.

Friday’s move put bitcoin on track for its worst day since June’s plunge.

“Speculating in cryptocurrencies is extremely high risk and not suitable for the vast majority of people,” said Hargreaves Lansdown’s Streeter.