Cryptocurrencies tumble, with bitcoin falling 7% and ether down 9% in the last 24 hours

Cryptocurrencies tumble, with bitcoin falling 7% and ether down 9% in the last 24 hours

Bitcoin prices fell sharply on Thursday night, while ether prices also dived. plummeted by more than 7% in the last 24 hours, and was trading at $38,5774 as of 11:19 p.m. ET, according to CoinDesk data. , the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, dived 8% in the last 24 hours. It was trading at $2,860 as of 11:20 p.m. ET, after falling as low as $2,809.51 in the last 24 hours, according to CoinDesk. The declines in cryptocurrencies follow Wall Street losses on Thursday. The Nasdaq was down almost 5% this week, and the S&P 500 is into its third straight week of losses. As the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield spiked earlier this week, rising rates have caused investors to shed their positions in riskier assets. Yields move opposite to prices. The Federal Reserve have also indicated it plans to begin reducing its balance sheet, as well as tapering of bonds and raising interest rates. A common investment case for bitcoin is that it serves as a hedge against rising inflation as a result of government stimulus, but is that  may take the wind out of bitcoin's sails. As yields pulled back later in the week, however, foreign exchange