BTC, ETH Prices Plunge on Crypto Charts, Most Altcoins Follow Suit

Bitcoin stepped into the last leg of April 2022 with minor, but consistent losses. On Monday, April 18, BTC opened trading at $41,895 (roughly Rs. 32 lakh). As per Indian exchange CoinSwitch Kuber, BTC registered a small loss of 0.53 percent. The reigning coin of the crypto realm also witnessed dips on international exchanges. On Binance and Coinbase for instance, Bitcoin values dropped by around 1.5 percent. BTC's trading price on global exchange platforms is currently around $39,838 (roughly Rs. 30 lakh).

Consistent minor losses since last week have pulled back Bitcoin's value away from the mark of $40,000 (roughly Rs. 30.5 lakh). A couple of weeks ago,

Ether too, tumbled down the price charts after seeing tiny dips due to market volatility. As per Gadgets 360's crypto price tracker, Ether dropped down by 0.91 percent bringing its trading value to $3,147 (roughly Rs. 2.40 lakh).

A couple of weeks ago, ETH values were hovering close to the mark of $3,500 (roughly Rs. 2.65 lakh).

Majority popular cryptocurrencies also joined Bitcoin and Ether to enter the week with axed prices.

These include Binance Coin, Ripple, Cardano, Terra, Avalanche, and Polkadot.

Dogecoin and Shiba Inu also failed to see any price spike.

“It appears the looming tax season has put some form of lid on any significant price appreciation, as investors sell assets and rebalance portfolios to fulfil their respective obligations,” the research team at CoinDCX told Gadgets 360, trying to explain the market movement.

It is however noteworthy, that despite the slowed down start to the week, a few cryptocurrencies did score gains.

These include Tether, USD Coin, Solana, and Binance USD.

Most of the gaining altcoins are stablecoins, pegged to the US dollar.

Analysts remain hopeful that in the coming days, the market situation will improve for good.

“Sustained corporate interest in crypto has ensured continued buying pressure, cushioning major macro-induced sell-offs. With regulatory clarity also starting to shape up, we might soon be entering a new era of accredited interest in digital assets,” the CoinDCX team noted.

Meanwhile, Russia could soon be legalising crypto payments in the country amid its ongoing war with Ukraine, and economic instability that followed the clashes.

Russia's Ministry of Finance has reportedly completed a bill addressing crypto payments in the country. The name of this bill is “On Digital Current” and it will require people to trade and use cryptocurrencies after completing a rigorous identification process.

After briefly crossing the mark of $2 trillion (roughly Rs. 1,52,39,826 crore) in March, the overall market cap of the crypto sector presently stands at $1.80 trillion (roughly Rs. 1,37,92,882 crore).

Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article.