After plunging to an 18-month low, bitcoin barely broke the $20,000 mark again.

Bitcoin plunged below $20,000 on Saturday, falling to $17,599.73, a level not seen since December 2020.

Central banks like the U.S. Federal Reserve are tightening policy rates to combat runaway inflation, which "takes the wind out of the sails of risky assets like cryptocurrencies," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at Swissquote Bank.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market size, "also plunged to its lowest level since January 2021" over the weekend, adds Neil Wilson, analyst at Markets.com. At around 09:15 GMT, bitcoin was trading at $20,576.41.