Bitcoin triggered a widespread crypto market sell-off on Monday.
The leading cryptocurrency is down 2.78% at $6,918, according to COIN360 at time of publishing.
Ethereum is down 7.06% at $132.62. XRP is down 5.16% at $0.2070. Bitcoin Cash is down 5.64% at $195.23 and Litecoin is down 8.63% at $39.89.
The drop comes amid news that the US and China have outlined a deal that could end the tumultuous trade war that has dominated political and financial headlines throughout 2019.
President Trump announced the preliminary trade pact via Twitter.
“We have agreed to a very large Phase One Deal with China. They have agreed to many structural changes and massive purchases of Agricultural Product, Energy, and Manufactured Goods, plus much more. The 25% Tariffs will remain as is, with 7 1/2% put on much of the remainder.
The Penalty Tariffs set for December 15th will not be charged because of the fact that we made the deal. We will begin negotiations on the Phase Two Deal immediately, rather than waiting until after the 2020 Election. This is an amazing deal for all. Thank you!”
A number of analysts have linked the US-China trade war to the volatile price of Bitcoin throughout the year, at times claiming Bitcoin may be emerging as a hedge against global economic uncertainty.
But according to a new outlook from Chainalysis, a more pressing issue is likely to impact the price of BTC in the short term.
In a new report, the firm says 20,000 Bitcoin from the PlusToken scam could be soon be dumped on the market.
PlusToken was an alleged Ponzi scheme born in 2018 that promised huge returns to its investors.
The platform went bust over the summer, with Ciphertrace reporting that investors lost an estimated $2.9 billion once PlusToken’s app and exchange went offline.
Chainalysis says scammers who helped create the token are using mixers, which combine different streams of cryptocurrency, to make it harder to trace the path of the funds.
So far, the company says PlusToken scammers have sold about 25,000 BTC using exchanges that allow people to negotiate direct deals over-the-counter.