Investing.com -- Bitcoin slumped on Wednesday, touching an 18-month low, dragging other digital tokens lower as looming interest rate hikes - as well as a decision by U.S.-based crypto lender Celsius to halt withdrawals and transfers between accounts - helped spark fears of a broader meltdown in the crypto market.

At 0609 EST (1009 GMT), Bitcoin was down 9.56% at 20,230.1, also bringing altcoins like Ethereum, Dogecoin, Solana, and Cardano into the red.

"It’s a bloodbath out there. Hunker down. Make sure you can last," Changpeng Zhao, chief executive of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange said on Twitter.

The decline comes as Reuters reports that U.S. software firm MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) - a major investor in Bitcoin - has not received a margin call against a three-year, $250M loan from crypto bank Silvergate Capital (NYSE:SI) secured by 19,466 bitcoins. MicroStrategy had previously said a margin call - or demand for increased capital - would happen if the value of bitcoin fell below $21,000.

MicroStrategy added that it still has enough bitcoins to meet the loan's requirements. The company's chief executive also said in a tweet that it had structured its balance sheet to weather the volatility in crypto markets.