When the price of gold tanks, miners get hurt. It is the same story in the wild world of cryptocurrencies.

Prices of Bitcoin, the world’s leading digital currency, have tumbled nearly 30% in the past week and hit a 13-month low of about US$4,500 (RM18,800), according to data from CoinMarketCap. The total market value of cryptocurrencies has slumped to US$148bil (RM618bil), which is less than one-fifth of its worth during the market’s peak in January.