Bitcoin pares early losses, but still trades in the red for session

New York (Nov 20)  The crypto meltdown on Tuesday steadied somewhat with most major coins paring steep, early losses.

The price of a single bitcoin, BTCUSD, -5.15% the world’s largest cryptocurrency, was last at $4,736.46, down 1.7% since 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the Kraken crypto exchange. Earlier in the session, bitcoin traded to $4,222.20, down more than 10% on the day, and 23% since the start of the trading week.

The total value of all cryptocurrencies has slumped to a 13-month low below $150 billion, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Justice Department investigating Bitfinex and Tether: report

The Justice Department has intensified its probe into crypto exchange Bitfinex and Tether, a prominent stablecoin, which some allege is artificially inflated, according to reports, including one from Bloomberg.

The report comes after a University of Texas study linked issuance of Tether with increases in the price of bitcoin. In fact, this morning, a prominent Bitfinex skeptic Twitter user noted that the price of bitcoin jumped after an injection of $50 million worth of Tether.

MarketWatch