Bitcoin falls below $19,000 for the first time in two months amid broader market turmoil

For the first time since July 4, bitcoin has fallen below $19,000.

The largest crypto-currency by market capitalization was trading at $18,841 at the time of this writing, according to Coingecko.

The last time the asset dipped below $19,000 was on July 4, when it hit $18,600. Before that, bitcoin hit $18,900 in November 2020 as part of its climb to its all-time highs of more than $60,000 the following year.

Investors appear to be dumping bitcoin for a number of reasons. As usual, the asset’s sell-off is closely correlated to the U.S. stock market: shares fell today after a volatile trading session, in part due to concerns that the Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates.

The Fed’s monetary policy of keeping interest rates high to fight inflation has led investors to sell riskier assets, such as stocks and bitcoin.

The bitcoin sell-off intensified after last week’s announcement that Russia would shut down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, halting the flow of gas to Europe and spooking the markets, experts say. Of course, bitcoin fans are undeterred.

Putin can shut down Nord Stream
Biden can shut down Swift
Nobody can shut down #Bitcoin

– Plan Marcus ⚡️☣️ 🇨🇴 (@plan_marcus) September 6, 2022

The Russian government said Monday that it would restore gas supplies if sanctions were lifted.

Of the top 10 crypto-currencies, bitcoin is one of the worst performers today. Its 24-hour loss of nearly 5 percent was exceeded only by Polkadot and Cardano, which lost 5.7 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively, in the same time frame.

Ethereum, the second-largest crypto-currency by market capitalization, has lost just 1.79% over the past 24 hours to a price of $1,568.