Bitcoin’s Value Falls To A 15-Month Low As Its Drop Continues


12/10/2018



The drop in the largest crypto currency in the world bitcoin continued unabated as it fell through as much as 11 per cent during last week end.

On the overall, the crypto currency has seen a total drop of 76 per cent in its value so far this year
“The general market sentiment seems to be that this ‘crypto winter’ could last for some time; not too many people are expecting a V-shaped recovery in 2019,” says Michael Moro, CEO of Genesis Global Trading.

According to data from CoinDesk, bitcoin reached its lowest point since September 2017 and was at a low of $3,293.31 last Friday. This adds on to the 20 per cent drop that the crypto currency had seen in the past seven days,

November had also been an awful month for bitcoin. According to data from CoinDesk, there was a 37 per cent drop in the value of boitcoin in November which was its worst drop since April 2011 when the largest crypto currency by volume saw a drop of 39 per cent.

There was a drop in all of the other major cryptocurrencies. While there was a drop of 7 per cent in the second largest cryptocurrency by market value XRP, and 11 per cent in the value of ether.

Bitcoin's large fall was a "combination" of factors, said Timothy Tam, CEO of cryptpocurrency research firm CoinFi.
 
The review period of a much-awaited bitcoin ETF was extended till February 27 by the SEC.  There was a reaction in the market even through While Gabor Gurbacs, who is behind the bitcoin ETF effort at VanEck, said that it was an expected move.

"Historically there is price correlation with expectation of an ETF approval and downward movement when the ETF gets rejected or delayed," Tam said in the television interview. "Sentiment among retail investors in the crypto space is already negative, so any negative news like this generates an overreaction."

There was no event driving this week’s downfall in bitcoin unlike in earlier weeks surrounding the drop in the value of cryptocurrency bitcoin cash, said Michael Moro, CEO of Genesis Trading.

"It looks like a continuation of the momentum trade that it has been for all of 2018," Moro said. "Short interest has continued to spike, as trading firms look to take advantage of the volatility."

Some long-term bitcoin holders was also engaged in selling, Moro also noted. "The general market sentiment seems to be that this 'crypto winter' could last for some time; not too many people are expecting a V-shaped recovery in 2019," he said.

According to Tam's CoinFi, there was movement in about $231 million of bitcoin form a wallet which had been dormant since 2014 which also indicates speculations about one specific early bitcoin investor selling his or her bitcoin.

"Within 15-20 minutes of that signal, markets immediately began to move," Tam said. "Again, it's a knee jerk reaction. Retail investors are acting on speculation and raw emotion."

(Source:www.cnbc.com)