Bitcoin Tumbles Back Under $58K as Crypto Quickly Crumbles Thursday Afternoon

The blame this time can't be laid on macro jitters, as stocks are up big again, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 both more than erasing early August declines.

Crypto plunges in quick fashion (Unsplash)

Crypto plunges in quick fashion (Unsplash)

Several days of mostly quiet price action came to a fast end during U.S. trading hours Thursday afternoon, with cryptocurrencies suddenly plunging and sending bitcoin (BTC) to its weakest level since just after the early August market panic.

At press time, bitcoin was changing hands at $57,700, down nearly 3% from its price just about an hour earlier. Other majors saw even steeper declines, including ether (ETH) and solana (SOL). The broad market gauge CoinDesk 20 Index was lower by 3% from 24 hours ago.