(Photo Illustration by Filip Radwanski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The price of bitcoin fell 48 percent in two days and lost 30 percent of its value this week, moving in tandem with risk assets and challenging the narrative that bitcoin acts as a safe haven asset in times of political and economic uncertainty.
Bitcoin is currently trading at $5,364, about 40 percent up from a low of $3,858 late Thursday night – the lowest since May 2019. Bitcoin has historically demonstrated strong recoveries from similarly violent sell-offs.
Crypto exchanges briefly went offline early Friday morning, and the New York State Department of Financial Services is requiring licensed crypto firms to produce coronavirus contingency plans.
On Thursday afternoon, between President Trump's speech about travel restrictions and before Christine Lagarde's speech in which she refused to cut rates, the crypto markets fell 20 to 30 percent in the span of an hour in one of bitcoin's sharpest ever selloffs. Gold, platinum, palladium, gasoline, and sugar plummeted around the same time.
"The latest market meltdown centers around liquidity (or lack thereof) as investors sell whatever they can to minimize additional losses or cover their positions," Kevin Kelly, lead analyst at Delphi Digital, said in an investor note Thursday. "The old adage 'cash is king' rings truer than ever at times like this as markets crater and hysteria takes hold. Beware fakeout rallies and false bottoms as they've claimed more careers than they've made."
In a clash of fast casual titans, Chipotle Mexican Grill is filing a lawsuit against Sweetgreen for trademark infringement. The salad purveyor recently released a meal offering called "Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl," which Chipotle said is being marketed in a "very similar" way as its own products and includes many of the same ingredients.
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell this week as the labor market continues to hold up in the face of the Federal Reserve aggressive campaign to cool the economy and bring down inflation.
Wall Street is drifting amid mixed trading Thursday, threatening to send the S&P 500 to its first losing week in the last four following some discouraging reports on the economy.
The upcoming trial in a voting machine company’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News for airing false allegations of vote fraud in the 2020 presidential election will not include testimony about the Jan. 6 uprising at the U.S. Capitol, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst with Bankrate.com, joined Cheddar News to provide guidance on how to raise your credit score, especially for would-be homebuyers.
Chipotle filed a lawsuit in California federal court against Sweetgreen over the salad chain's chicken burrito bowl, claiming infringement for using the word "chipotle" in the name.
