Bitcoin price plunges dramatically again as almost 10% wiped off price in hours

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The price of bitcoin has plunged in its latest dramatic drop.

It has lost almost 10 per cent from its value over the last 24 hours, in something of a slow motion price crash.

The weakness was even more dramatic in other cryptocurrencies: Ethereum, Cardano and other large digital coins had fallen 10 per cent or more over the morning.

Follow all the latest crypto market updates with The Independent’s live blog

In all, the market has dropped 9.8 per cent over the last 24 hours, according to the tracking site CoinMarketCap. Activity was up, presumably as people responded to the crash, with 44 per cent more trading than the previous day.

As the crash began, the president of El Salvador – which famously moved to mandate support for cryptocurrency in the country, as well as holding bitcoins itself – tweeted that the fall could be good news.

“We just bought the dip. 150 new coins! El Salvador now holds 700 coins,” posted Nayib Bukele.

“They can never beat you if you buy the dips. Presidential advice.”