Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies slumped in a massive sell-off on Tuesday, with Bitcoin falling to its lowest level since November.
Bitcoin plunged 6.59% to $6,071.00 on the Bitfinex exchange, as of 8:50 AM ET (12:50 GMT), but still remained near a three-and-a-half-week low.
The price of digital coins had risen in the end of July over rumors that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could approve the first crypto exchange traded fund. But prices plunged after the agency postponed its decision to September.
Cryptocurrencies overall lost almost $24 billion in the last 24 hours. The coin market cap of total market capitalization was at $193 billion at the time of writing, compared to $217 billion on Monday.
Ethereum, the second-biggest alternative currency by market cap, fell 21.05% to $263.28 on the Bitfinex exchange amid reports that investors who bought Ethereum to participate in initial coin offerings (ICOs) are cashing out to cover expenses.
Ripple, the third-largest virtual currency, decreased 16.27% to $0.26141, while Litecoin was at $51.886, down 16.01%.
In other news, money and payments app Square (NYSE:SQ) has rolled out a Bitcoin trading on the platform in all U.S. states.
The company obtained the New York BitLicense in June, allowing it to offer the service to residents of New York state. The Bitcoin buying and selling option was rolled out last November to some customers in select states. Users can conduct transactions almost instantly and spend the cryptocurrency through a Visa card issued by Square.