Bitcoin tries to rally as Evergrande-led sell-off weakens

September 21 (Reuters) – Cryptocurrency prices rebounded to their 1.5-month low on Tuesday, as an overnight sell-off linked to concerns over a possible default by property developer China Evergrande (3333.HK) eased slightly, but investors braced for more volatility.

Bitcoin, the largest and most well-known cryptocurrency, traded around $ 43,000, recovering from a drop to $ 40,192 earlier in the session. It peaked at $ 52,000 in four months on September 6.

The smaller rival Ether, the coin linked to the Ethereum blockchain, rose 1% to $ 3,012 after falling below $ 3,000 for the first time since early August.

Global markets started the week on a turbulent note after fears that Evergrande’s problems could spill over into the Chinese and global economies led to a sell-off of riskier assets.

“We can’t have a very positive outlook just yet until we’ve got through the next few days,” said Matthew Dibb, chief operating officer of Singapore-based crypto index fund provider Stack Funds.

“It’s purely sentiment driven at the moment, and the liquidity is actually very low,” he said, adding that it would be better to wait on the sidelines as the crypto markets will continue to decline. ‘be affected by contagion.

The drop in cryptocurrencies comes at a time when institutional interest in the space has increased and made it more mainstream, with many investment banks taking a more bullish stance.

Reporting by Anushka Trivedi in Bengaluru; edited by Richard Pullin

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