Dogecoin drops 75%, losing $70 billion in market value

• After the hype surrounding Dogecoin and Elon Musk’s support back in May, the cryptocurrency has since dropped more than 75%.
• The worst-performing major cryptocurrency suffered a drop in market value from around $94 billion at its peak to roughly $23 billion on Tuesday.
• Other cryptocurrencies have also crashed ever since Musk’s criticism of bitcoin’s energy use and China’s crackdown.

Dogecoin has become the worst-performing major cryptocurrency on Tuesday as it dropped over 75% in market value.

In just over 24 hours, the meme cryptocurrency lost 24% to hit $0.17413, which is around 76% lower than its record high of more than $0.70. According to CoinGecko, its peak market value was around $94 billion, but it lost $71 billion on Tuesday when it dropped to roughly $23 billion.

Dogecoin reached its peak back in May as everyone expected Elon Musk to boost support for the token during his “Saturday Night Live” appearance.

Other major cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether dropped as well, but not as sharply. Binance coin dropped by around 20% while cardano dropped by around 17%.

The market value for cryptocurrencies has significantly dropped since Musk announced that Tesla’s retracting its decision to allow payments in bitcoin, citing its “insane” energy use and impact on the environment. Chinese authorities have also cracked down on crypto “mining.”

Dogecoin suffered the heaviest losses, however. Analysts have previously attributed its meteoric rise to celebrity-induced buzz and speculative mania instead of anything fundamental.

Susannah Streeter, senior markets analyst at broker Hargreaves Lansdown, explained, “In this climate it’s not a surprise that dogecoin, which began its crypto journey as a joke, has suffered one of the steepest declines in recent days.”

Musk has been one of the biggest supporters of dogecoin, but he hasn’t said much about it recently. He also let fellow supporters down when he called the cryptocurrency a hustle on SNL.

Michael Kamerman, CEO of crypto firm Skilling, remarked, “Many expected Elon Musk’s SNL appearance to send the already-soaring dogecoin even higher. It had the opposite effect.”

Still, dogecoin is over 7,000% higher than last year’s market value, CoinGecko reported.

Source: Business Insider