Bitcoin dives below $57,000 after 2 months

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Bitcoin on Wednesday dove below the $57,000 level for the first time in more than two months.

That marked the lowest level for the world's biggest cryptocurrency since Feb. 27 when its price plummeted to $54,450.

The price of Bitcoin was trading just above $58,000 as of 8.34 a.m. EDT (1234GMT) for a daily loss of almost 5%, according to data from CoinMarketCap, a digital asset price-tracking website.

Ethereum, the world's biggest altcoin by market cap, was down 2.8% to $2,920 at the time, while some altcoins saw their daily prices fall more than 10%.

The value of the cryptocurrency market fell 3.8% to $2.16 trillion while Bitcoin's share of the crypto market, known as dominance, was at 52.9% and Ethereum's dominance was at 16.5%.

The selloff in the cryptocurrency market comes as investors' demand has waned in Bitcoin since its halving last month, the US Federal Reserve's first interest rate cut delayed beyond expectations this year, and Binance's former CEO and co-founder sentenced to four months in prison.

Changpeng Zhao was sentenced Tuesday in Seattle, Washington for failing to comply with money laundering regulations and the US' sanctions violations against Syria and Iran.

Bitcoin has been on a rally since Jan. 11, when the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved spot Bitcoin ETFs or exchange-traded funds. The move allowed investors, especially financial institutions, to trade Bitcoin without owning it.