Bitcoin fell as far as $33,920, its lowest since Jan. 6. after hitting $41,946.74 weekend. Bitcoin fell by 13.68 percent to sell for 35,377.77 dollars. Ethereum which often moves in tandem with bitcoin, fell as much as 20% to a one-week low of $1,007.51.
The falls are much larger than the 1.0 percent drop that sent gold prices to a one-month low, but reflect a wider dollar bounce against major fiat currencies as the prospect of higher U.S. interest rates tempers popular bets against the dollar.
Losses pared a little by lunchtime in Asia to put bitcoin at $35,192 – about 16 percent below a record peak of $42,000 which the world’s most popular cryptocurrency hit last week.
If sustained, the drop would be the third straight session of losses since that high, which represented an almost 1,000% gain from a one-year low of $3,850 that bitcoin hit last March.
Interest in bitcoin has been soaring as institutional investors began buying heavily, viewing it as both an inflation hedge and as exposed to gains if it became more widely adopted as a digital currency.