The cryptocurrencies fall victim to investor risk aversion in global markets on Monday, resulting in Bitcoin to fall as much as 11%, with losses reaching $270 billion, surpassing the second largest cryptocurrency Etherfollowing a sell-off in stocks across Asia on fears of a US recession.

According to his data GoinGecko, Bitcoin was trading 10% lower at $53,100 at 6:48 am. in London, adding to a 13.1% drop last week, which was the worst since the FTX market collapsed. Ether lost more than a fifth of its value before recovering partially, changing hands at $2,360. Most major cryptocurrencies are moving deep into the red.

In the USA the Nasdaq index fell 3.4% last week as a result of its 3-month low since September 2022, when tech markets were also in freefall, led by losses in Amazon and Nvidia.

The drop comes amid tensions in a global stock selloff, reflecting worries about the economic outlook and questions about whether big investments in artificial intelligence will live up to the technology’s hype.

One question is whether the products will attract buyers on the dip when they resume trading or succumb to deeper capital outflows, as US ETFs tracking Bitcoin suffered their biggest outflows in about three months on August 2.