* Bitcoin slumps 19% to one-week low of $30,699
* Ethereum down 23%
* Falls come as rising U.S. yields lift dollar
(Updates with latest prices, analyst quote and background)
By Tom Wilson and Tom Westbrook
LONDON/SINGAPORE, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Bitcoin plunged more
than 19% to a one-week low on Monday, putting the cryptocurrency
on track for its biggest one-day drop since March as its recent
red-hot rally hit the buffers.
Bitcoin slumped $30,699, its lowest since Jan. 5,
after extending earlier losses in Asian trading hours and was
last down 15% at $32,675.
If sustained, the one-day drop would be the biggest since
COVID-19 caused chaos in financial markets in March.
The falls reflect a wider dollar bounce against major fiat
currencies as the prospect of higher U.S. interest rates tempers
popular bets against the dollar.
Second-biggest cryptocurrency ethereum which
often moves in tandem with bitcoin, fell as much as 23% to a
one-week low of $985.
Interest in bitcoin has been soaring as institutional
investors began buying heavily, viewing it as both an inflation
hedge and as exposed to gains if it became more widely adopted.
The cryptocurrency more than doubled in price from early
December to a record $42,000 on Friday, leading some investment
banks to warn of an impending bubble.
BofA said last week the world's popular cryptocurrency
"blows the doors off prior bubbles", such as the dotcom boom,
China in the 2000s and gold in the 1970s.
J.P.Morgan strategists, however, said that bitcoin has
emerged as a rival to gold and could trade as high as $146,000
if it becomes established as a safe-haven asset.
(Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Lincoln
Feast and Alexander Smith)