Bitcoin price collapsed by 23% in an hour, CME to close its trading floor, and PlusToken laundered $1.3 billion

BTC crashed by 23% in an hour

The first cryptocurrency’s price broke through the level of $7,000 and instantly collapsed to the level of $5,680, according to the Bitfinex exchange. The price movement took place during increased trading volumes.

Currently, the price has recovered to a range of $6,350–6,450. The cryptocurrencies price crash occurs amid closing venues and state borders due to the pandemic of the Chinese virus.

CME Group to close trading due to coronavirus

On March 13, CME Group will close its Chicago trading floor for an indefinite period.

This is a precautionary measure due to the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, the company said in a statement. The exchange notes that there were no cases of infection among its employees. It is still unknown when the exchange will resume working, the representatives of CME will follow recommendations of epidemiologists.

Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a one-month ban on travel from Europe to the United States.

▶ PlusToken crypto pyramid sells $1.3 billion on exchanges

The organizers of the PlusToken financial pyramid scheme have laundered more than $1.3 billion in cryptocurrency over the past seven months, according to a report from OXT.

Fraudsters sold coins on platforms such as OKEx and Huobi, despite rules of mandatory identity verification (KYC). According to analysts, this put pressure on the price of bitcoin and all cryptocurrencies. Now, however, the impact will decrease, as attackers sold 70% of their cryptocurrency reserves

According to OXT experts, the creators of PlusToken still have about 37,725 BTC.