Bitcoin has fallen bellow $30,000 for the first time since June, and Ethereum is suffering huge losses across the board. Could this be the end of crypto?

Around 98 billion dollars was wiped off the entire cryptocurrency market in 24 hours, in what comes as huge losses for crypto investors.

Bitcoin is down more than 6%, and Ethereum fells almost 9%. Since bitcoin’s all-time high of nearly $65,000 in mid-April, its price has plunged over 50 percent

The co-founder of one of the earliest rivals to bitcoin has sensationally abandoned the cryptocurrency market, sending prices tumbling.

Co-founder leaves Ethereum

The crash follows Ethereum co-founder Anthony Di Iorio making a dramatic exit from the crypto world at the end of last week. The Canadian entrepreneur says he plans to sell his Toronto-based blockchain company Decentral.

Di Iorio said he believes the startup is worth “hundreds of millions.” He plans to sell the company for fiat, or equity in another company rather than crypto.

Di Iorio financed Ethereum at its inception. Ethereum is the second biggest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. Ether, the native token of the network, has a market value of about $225 billion.

Ethereum is home of many of the hottest crypto projects, especially in decentralized finance. This allows people to borrow, lend and trade with each other without intermediaries like banks.

“It’s got a risk profile that I am not too enthused about”

He told Bloomberg he was leaving crypto behind because he was tired of feeling unsafe. He plans to redirect his focus on philanthropy in the future.

“I don’t feel necessarily safe in this space,” said Di lorio. Since 2017, a security team has escorted him whenever he leaves his house.

Forbes evaluated his net worth at about US$1 billion in 2018. The value of Ethereum has more than doubled since then. For now, crypto enthusiasts will need to wait and see whether the loss continues.

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