Cryptocurrencies slide, shed hundreds of billions in market cap

[bostonangler]

The last 24 hours have seen big sell-offs in the major cryptocurrencies, with bitcoin falling as low as $6,630, according to CoinDesk, before rebounding a bit to trade above $7,000. Bitcoin peaked just below $20,000 in December.

It isn’t just the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization that is falling ether, Ripple XRP and bitcoin cash have all dropped to fresh lows for the year.

There wasn’t any apparent trigger to the sell-off.

The cryptocurrencies have struggled since they hit record highs that spread from late 2017 through January. According to data from CoinMarketCap, in the first week of January the major cryptocurrencies hit an overall market capitalization that exceeded $800 billion. As of Friday, the total market cap had dropped to about $275 billion.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cryptocurrencies-slide-shed-hundreds-billions-120434174.html

 

Ouch....

B/A

[bostonangler]

Bitcoin is on track for its worst first quarter ever with over $114 billion wiped off its value

• The price of bitcoin is on track for its worst first quarter performance ever.
• The price of the cryptocurrency has fallen from $13,412.44 on January 1 to $7,266.07 on March 30, marking a more than 45 percent decline.
• So far this quarter, $114.9 billion of market capitalization or value has been wiped off of bitcoin.

• Bitcoin is having a terrible first quarter, in fact the worst its ever seen.

  The price of the cryptocurrency has fallen from $13,412.44 on January 1 to $7,266.07 on March 30, marking a more than 45 percent decline, according to data from CoinDesk, a site which tracks the price of different digital coins. The quarter ends on Saturday.

  So far this quarter, $114.9 billion of market capitalization or value has been wiped off of bitcoin.

   

  The price decline this quarter is the biggest first quarter decline in bitcoin's history. The previous biggest decline was a near 38 percent fall in the price in the first quarter of 2014, according to data from CoinDesk. It tracks the price of bitcoin back to the middle of 2010.

  CNBC looked at bitcoin's price performance in the first quarters of each year beginning in 2011. Bitcoin has recorded a decline in 5 of the 8 first quarters tracked, which includes the current 2018 Q1.

  The biggest price rise was a 599 percent surge in the price of bitcoin in the first quarter of 2013.

  Bitcoin saw a huge run up in price in 2017 and hit a record high above $19,000 towards the end of last year.

  But it has faced tougher regulatory scrutiny in 2018 and some of the air has come out of the market.

  At a G-20 meeting this month, Argentina's central bank governor outlined a summer deadline for members to have "specific recommendations on what to do" and said task forces are working to submit proposals by July. Italy's central bank leader told reporters after the meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that cryptocurrencies pose risks but should not be banned, according to Reuters

[tankdude]

Maybe this is just my take on it - but to me this reads as "Good entry point"...

[bostonangler]

1 hour ago, tankdude said:

Maybe this is just my take on it - but to me this reads as "Good entry point"...

 

I wish I had bought when a friend told me about bitcoin 3 years ago... Of course if you don't cash out and take profits when things rise you never win... Right now, I'm waiting for bitcoin to drop under $1,000 before I consider buying.. It seems like a multi-level marketing scam... the first ones in make the money and the rest lose. you have to ask yourself, where did the multi-billions go? 

[tankdude]

8 minutes ago, bostonangler said:

 

I wish I had bought when a friend told me about bitcoin 3 years ago... Of course if you don't cash out and take profits when things rise you never win... Right now, I'm waiting for bitcoin to drop under $1,000 before I consider buying.. It seems like a multi-level marketing scam... the first ones in make the money and the rest lose. you have to ask yourself, where did the multi-billions go? 

I personally don't believe you will see BTC go below 1,000.  In my estimation you might see around $3,500 but that's just a guess from a lot of the different analysis I've been seeing. 

 

 

[bostonangler]

Has cryptocurrency lost its footing? Following a three-month period of drooping prices, it appears interest in bitcoin and digital currencies is falling to new lows, and the market value is sinking along with it.

Most major data stems from online searches and Google Trends. One source claims that searches relating to bitcoin and cryptocurrency have slumped by 80 percent since last October. In addition, it says that searches in Japan and South Korea — two of the world’s largest bitcoin havens — have fallen to their lowest levels since March of 2017.

Looking at a recent Google chart, one can see that amongst the three top cryptocurrencies — bitcoin, ether and litecoin — bitcoin is the only one that remains a “global trend.” Ethereum still boasts interest in certain parts of Asia and Eastern Europe, but Litecoin doesn’t appear anywhere.

Source: Google Trends

Another source dated in January 2018 discusses search patterns of the previous three months, and suggests that general interest in crypto has dropped so significantly, the price could ultimately hit $7,100.

This was an understatement compared to what really occurred. Back in February, the price of bitcoin briefly fell below $6,000 in what was considered a new low following “Red Tuesday” and the recent sell-off that had taken place. Though the price recovered somewhat by early March, this prediction became a reality in the short term.

In addition, interest in bitcoin and cryptocurrency related jobs are on the decline according to Indeed.com, though blockchain gigs remain stable enough.

This news comes, however, less than two weeks after Indeed reported a massive surge in cryptocurrency-related job posts. The site claims that the number of advertisements for crypto and bitcoin jobs amongst tech leaders has jumped by over 620 percent since November of 2015.

This could suggest that interest has only dropped for the time being and intrigue in the cryptocurrency arena remains stellar in the long term. It is to be expected that investors and followers of bitcoin would feel disheartened by rapid price declines and the loss of value, but crypto and blockchain technology arguably remain forces to be reckoned with, especially in the tech industry.

Furthermore, job growth within bitcoin enterprises has ultimately grown in regions like India. This is especially hopeful considering the country’s present stance on cryptocurrencies. Job growth in the virtual asset sector has grown by nearly 300 percent since November 2017, and searches on Indeed.com for India have risen by a whopping 52 percent.

Regulators in India have repeatedly targeted cryptocurrency exchanges and commented that bitcoin and digital currencies are not “legal tender.” A task force has been officially developed to increase efforts against money laundering and other illicit activities, and new regulations could be implemented by late March.

Still, approximately 10 percent of cryptocurrency transactions occur in India. Combined with present job searches and the overall growth in India’s bitcoin arena, there is evidence suggesting that a decline in bitcoin interest is not occurring on a global scale.

What we’re probably witnessing is a “shift” in interest. It’s not that regard for cryptocurrency is on the decline; instead, interest may be adapting as people learn more, and universal intrigue is taking less of a general stance and gravitating more toward more specific terms and topics. Bitcoin and Ripple searches, for example, remain prominent in countries like Ghana, Singapore and Austria. Terms like “ripple price” and “bitcoin bubble burst” dominate most of the cryptocurrency-related searches in these nations, while Bolivia and Australia-based searches suggest more interest in things like bitcoin cash.

We are also witnessing a change in the types of investors behind cryptocurrency, who may ultimately be influencing search numbers. When bitcoin inched past $10,000 last year, the number of people interested in bitcoin grew to exponential levels. Platforms like Coinbase saw their userbases explode practically overnight, though it’s possible many of the people climbing aboard had little research under their belts. Uninterested in the long-term effects, it’s probable they merely saw crypto as a route to garner fast wealth.

As the price of bitcoin waned in early 2018, several of these new investors, simply looking to strike it big, likely turned away when their hopes of becoming overnight millionaires were dashed. Thus, while interest and search volume would naturally decrease, it still appears some of these new traders may have been young people who have stayed surprisingly loyal to cryptocurrency.

Many sources show that millennial interest in cryptocurrency has stayed strong to the point that several are even using educational funds to invest. Younger generations may be helping to prevent bitcoin and altcoin interest from falling away altogether.

Analysts are also predicting that overall interest in crypto could spike again later this year. Many remain bullish on virtual assets, particularly bitcoin, and suggest it could reach new price highs by the summer of 2018.

Fundstrat’s Thomas Lee, for instance, suggests that bitcoin might jump to $20,000 by July of this year. He says the behavior exhibited by bitcoin today is reminiscent of its behavior following an April–July 2013 sell-off, which was followed by what he calls a “monster rally.” He says if bitcoin continues its present track, $20,000 is a reasonable figure.

Lee is not alone in his sentiment. Abra CEO Bill Barhydt says a new “price boom” is on its way in the coming months, and all “hell will break loose” once this occurs. He says that bitcoin and other forms of cryptocurrency are in for some huge jumps; hedge-fund managers and other wealth-driven individuals already see their volatility as potential opportunities and are swiftly adding them to their portfolios.

Growing interest among the mega-rich could potentially cause prices to spike once again. Should that happen, it’s likely safe to say that general interest in cryptocurrency and bitcoin will surpass numbers witnessed in 2017.

 

 

Man crypto is so 2017!!!   LOL

B/A