Ether slumped by the most since May 2021.

(Getty Images)

• Ether posted its steepest single-day plunge since May 2021.

• The crypto fear and greed index flashed "fear" and fell to its lowest level in a month.

• The CoinDesk 20 Index dropped nearly 20%.

Bitcoin (BTC) extended its slump during Asian trading hours on Monday, plunging below $50,000 before recovering to around $51,000, still the lowest level since mid-February, as rising tensions in the Middle East and concerns about the strength of the global economy ate into investor confidence.

The world's largest cryptocurrency fell for a fourth straight day, dropping to as low as $49,112, data from TradingView show. Ether (ETH), the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, sank to as little as $2,060, the least since Jan. 3. The CoinDesk 20 index, which tracks some of the most liquid non-stablecoin tokens, dropped nearly 20%.

Ether's near 25% slide is the worst single-day hit for the token since May 2021. The sell-off in ether was catalyzed by rumors of crypto market maker Jump Trading's liquidating assets. On-chain sleuth spotonchain identified a wallet supposedly belonging to Jump Trading that transferred 17,576 ETH, worth over $46 million, to centralized exchanges, a sign of possible liquidation.

The bloodbath led to over $1 billion in liquidations in the crypto futures market, with ether registering over $350 million in liquidated bets, a rare oddity.

The panic selling in bitcoin and the overall crypto market has been triggered by a wider fall in financial markets as fears of a global recession and rising tensions in the Middle East had investors hitting the panic button. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped 12.4%, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell more than 3% and micro futures on the S&P 500 Index lost 3.3%.

This has led to the crypto fear and greed sentiment index flashing “fear,” and reaching its lowest level since early July. The index tracks volatility, prices, and social media data to indicate whether participants are fearful – usually a sign of local bottoms – or greedy, which marks market tops.

As if in anticipation, investors pulled $237.5 million from U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Friday, the most since May 1, according to data from SoSoValue. Ether ETFs were hit with $54.3 million of net outflows. Across the broader crypto market, digital asset investments ended four weeks of net inflows with outflows of $528 million last week, CoinShares said in its weekly report. Bitcoin assets lost $400 million and ether $146 million. CoinShares attributed the withdrawals to concerns of a U.S. recession and the geopolitical environment.