Like most other cryptocurrencies, the value of bitcoin fell further on Friday. The most important digital currency was worth about USD 28,500 (about EUR 26,500) around 9 p.m. Dutch time. It is the eighth week in a row that the value of bitcoin has fallen. That has never happened before in the past ten years.
Bitcoin has lost about 3.5 percent in the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap, which tracks the prices of digital coins. The value of the coin is near its lowest level this year. At the beginning of this year, a bitcoin was still worth almost 48,000 dollars (about 44,750 euros). That is currently 40 percent less.
Ether, the second-largest digital currency by market value, has lost nearly 7 percent in the past 24 hours.
The fall in value of crypto coins is partly caused by the interest rate fear that prevails among investors. Higher interest rates are generally unfavorable for equities and other risky investments.
Stock markets have bounced back in recent days. Investors responded, among other things, to a report that a favorite inflation gauge of the US central bank, the Federal Reserve (Fed), rose less rapidly in April than the month before. It could be a sign that price increases in the United States are slowing down somewhat.