The leading cryptocurrency bitcoin hit a new two-month low on Friday, breaking out of its recent narrow range, as a wave of risk-averse sentiment swept global markets.

Bitcoin fell 7.2 percent on Thursday, the biggest one-day drop since November 2022, when the leading FTX exchange collapsed.

It fell to a two-month low of $26,172 in Asian trading on Friday. By 07:13 GMT it had partially recovered to $26,478, down 0.6 percent for the day.

A wave of sell-offs gripped global markets, with major Wall Street indexes closing lower on Thursday, while Asian stocks began a third week of losses due to concerns about the health of China’s economy and fears that U.S. interest rates will be raised longer given the economy’s resilience.

Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, also fell sharply on Thursday, remaining steady at $1,690.20.

The head of research at Enigma Securities, attributed the bitcoin price decline to low volatility and lack of enthusiasm from retail investors.

In recent months, the bitcoin price has held near the $30,000 mark. In June, BlackRock applied to launch a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States.

Some investors took the move as a sign that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission would approve bitcoin spot ETF applications from various asset managers, including Grayscale.