Bitcoin price falls under $56,000 amid losses in US and Asian markets

Bitcoin (BTC) fell to its lowest price since the beginning of last month following losses reported in United States and Asian equity markets.

The development follows reports indicating that Bitcoin could see benefits if Republican candidate Donald Trump wins the United States presidential race.

According to CoinMarketCap market data, Bitcoin’s price fell from $59,210 down to $55,670 in under 24 hours — a loss of nearly 6% of the coin’s value. Since then, Bitcoin corrected upwards to its current price of $56,630.

Bitcoin’s fall followed a slump in traditional markets. The Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500  United States stock indexes lost 3.5% on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei similarly fell by 4% hours after the markets opened.

The August value reported by the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index has decreased for the fifth month in a row. In August the index stood at 47.2%. It represents the level of economic activity in the United States manufacturing sector and is seen as a gauge to judge the broader state of the economy. A value of 47.2% indicates a contraction in the United States manufacturing sector. When the value is below 50% the market is contracting, while a value above 50% indicates growth. Institute for Supply Management’s chairman Timothy R. Fiore said:

“While still in contraction territory, U.S. manufacturing activity contracted slower compared to last month. Demand continues to be weak, output declined, and inputs stayed accommodative. […] Demand remains subdued, as companies show an unwillingness to invest in capital and inventory due to current federal monetary policy and election uncertainty.”

Similarly to Bitcoin, Ethereum also saw a significant price fall. Ethereum is trading at $2,411, at the time of writing, after losing 4.17% of its value over the last 24 hours.

CoinMarketCap’s global charts show that the total crypto market cap fell from $2.08 trillion down to $1.96 trillion in under 24 hours. This is equivalent to $120 million worth of capital fleeing from the market. As of writing the market cap regained $30 million and is worth a total of $1.99 trillion.

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