Crypto prices slump; Bitcoin drops below $10,000 level

Cryptocurrency prices slumped on Thursday in Asia, with Bitcoin down more than 5% and below the key $10,000 level.

The digital coin slid more than $600 and fell from $10,200 to $9,600 in just 30 minutes, according to data compiled by Coindesk. The reason behind the movement was not clear.

It was the first time Bitcoin had fallen below $10,000 since July. The coin last traded at $9,621.8 by 1:00 AM ET (05:00 GMT), down 4.9%.

“From our end, it looks like it was a sell-off to cash settle futures that are coming due on Friday for BTC,” said Dave Balter, chief executive of Flipside Crypto Inc., in an interview with Bloomberg.

“It’s the week before Labor Day. Half of crypto is at Burning Man and the other half is sitting on their hands doing nothing,” Balter said.

“Volumes are low and it takes very little to move markets right now, and you have big futures/options expirations coming up at the end of the week…I just don’t think there are a lot of investors willing to defend price right now.”

Prices of other major cryptocurrencies also slumped today. Ethereum plunged 8.2% to $170.37, XRP was down 5% to 0.25320, while Litecoin declined 8.8% to $66.132.