Crypto meltdown: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, and EOS crushed

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Litecoin, and Cardano have been crushed again. Here's why…

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It may have been a public holiday for much of Australia, but that doesn't mean the crypto market is closed.

Though, looking at the sea of red on the market today, traders might have wished it had been closed.

With sharp declines being seen across the board the entire value of the market has sunk below US$300 million according to Coin Market Cap.

At the time of writing the market value is down 7.2% over the last 24 hours to US$297.2 billion.

The declines appear to have been driven by news that a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange has been hacked.

According to CNBC, South Korea's Coinrail exchange revealed via Twitter that it was hacked this weekend.

In addition to this, U.S. regulators are believed to be investigating potential price manipulation at four major cryptocurrency exchanges: Bitstamp, Coinbase, itBit and Kraken.

It seems that these developments have hit the already weak trader sentiment and led many to head to the exits.

Here is the state of play on Monday evening:

The Bitcoin (BTC) price is down 7% since this time yesterday to US$6,758.44 per coin, reducing its market capitalisation to US$115.5 billion.

The Ethereum (ETH) price has fallen 6.5% to US$532.60 per token, leaving it with a market capitalisation of US$53.2 billion.

The Ripple (XRP) price has lost 7% over the last 24 hours and is down to 58.3 U.S. cents. The popular alt coin now has a market capitalisation of US$22.9 billion.

The Bitcoin Cash (BCH) price is off 9% to US$937.56 per token, reducing its market capitalisation to US$16.1 billion.

The EOS (EOS) price has plunged 15% over the last 24 hours to US$11.21 per token. This leaves EOS with a market capitalisation of US$10 billion.

Outside the top five the declines were equally severe over the period. Litecoin (LTC) is down 5.3%, Stellar (XLM) is off 6.1%, Cardano (ADA) is 8% lower, IOTA (MIOTA) has dropped 8.4%, and TRON (TRX) is down 11.5%.

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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