Ether, the second-largest token, fell as much as 17.4% before trimming the retreat to about 4%. The overall crypto sector has shed around a fifth of its value, sliding to US$2.2 trillion, according to tracker CoinGecko.
Bitcoin plunged along with other cryptocurrencies on Saturday, in another indication of the risk aversion sweeping across financial markets.
The largest digital token fell as low as US$42,296 before paring some of the tumble. It was trading at about US$48,300 as of 10:31 a.m. in New York on Saturday, a drop of about 10%. The token has now declined more than 20% from the all-time high of more than US$69,000 seen on November 10.
