Hong Kong/Seoul/Washington — The 2018 sell-off in cryptocurrencies deepened, wiping out $42bn of market value at the weekend and extending this year’s slump in Bitcoin to more than 50%. Some observers pinned the retreat on an exchange hack in South Korea, while others pointed to the lingering concern over a clampdown on trading platforms in China. Cryptocurrency venues have come under growing scrutiny around the world in recent months amid a range of issues including thefts, market manipulation and money laundering. Bitcoin has dropped 12% since 5pm New York time on Friday and was trading at $6,765.54 in early afternoon trade in Hong Kong on Monday, bringing its year-to-date loss to 53%. Most other major virtual currencies also retreated, sending the market value of digital assets tracked by Coinmarketcap.com to a nearly two-month low of $298bn. At the height of the global crypto-mania in early January, they were worth about $830bn. Enthusiasm for virtual currencies has waned partly...
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