Bitcoin fell below $8,000 for the third time in four days on Monday amid a broader sell-off in cryptocurrencies that has seen over $60 billion of valued erased from the market in 24 hours.
The price of bitcoin traded as low as $7,178.65 on Monday and sat below the $8,000 mark for most of the morning's trade, according to CoinDesk. It's the lowest price for bitcoin since November 16. CoinDesk's bitcoin price index tracks prices from digital currency exchanges Bitstamp, Coinbase, itBit and Bitfinex.
On Friday, bitcoin fell below $8,000 for the first time since November 24. It then rose above $9,000 over the weekend before falling below $8,000 on Sunday.
It was not only bitcoin that fell either. Other major virtual currencies, including ethereum and ripple, fell sharply in the last 24 hours. The market capitalization or value of the entire cryptocurrency market fell to around $350 billion around 11:23 a.m., ET, Monday, according to data from CoinMarketCap.com. This was a drop of around $67.7 billion in 24 hours.
As cryptocurrencies across the board once again take a hit, bitcoin is exploring the downside below $8,000.
The sharp recovery in prices on CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) from the Friday's low of $7,695 ran into offers at a high of $9,471.46 at 21:59 UTC on Saturday. In the subsequent hours, the bears pushed the cryptocurrency back to $8,000.
Bitcoin dropped further to a low of $7,876.69 at 02:30 UTC today and was last seen at $7,995. The world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has depreciated by 12 percent in the last 24 hours, according to data source CoinMarketCap.
A similar price action has been seen across the market. Bitcoin cash (BCH), Ripple (XRP) are down 14 percent each, while ethereum's ether (ETH) token has dropped 13 percent in the last 24 hours.
The biggest loser in the top 100 cryptos by market cap is the ethereum-based token called dent (in 75th place). The company aims to liberate mobile data by enabling users to sell or donate excess data via the ethereum blockchain.
The price of dent has depreciated by 26 percent in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. It is worth noting that dent was leading the cryptomarket recovery over the weekend. As of writing, it is changing hands at $0.023647, having clocked a high of $0.033194 over the weekend.
Currently, the total market capitalization of all currencies taken together stands at $397 billion – up 14 percent from Friday's low of $348 billion.
Disclosure: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in Ripple, the company that oversees XRP development.
Chalkboard chart image via Shutterstock
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Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide, investment advice. Please conduct your own thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin has struggled this year and its price plummeted to a two-month low latest Friday. Nithin Eapen, Chief Investment Officer at Arcadia Crypto Ventures has claimed the cryptocurrency will always be volatile but said that Bitcoin was the future. He said: “This is nothing you see. It has just fallen 20 percent this week, maybe in the two months, it has fallen 50 percent. “I used to remember times when this was one dollar, then it goes to $10 and then it’s back to $3. Compared to that, this is nothing.
GETTY•ALJAZEERA Bitcoin price news: Nithin Eapen said Bitcoin was not going away
“For all of those newbies out there, oh my God, they’re going to get crushed, but this is not classical music, or Jazz, this is punk rock, and they have to be ready for that. “If you are expecting classical music, something that is very calm, well you are in for a surprise.” Also speaking on Al Jazeera, Mr Eapen said: “What percentage of people are in crypto? And this is changing the world. “This is like 1994 and the internet. By 1998 most of the analysts out there were saying ‘by 2002 there is not going to be any internet there and this hype is going to go away.’
This is nothing you see. It has just fallen 20 percent this week Nithin Eapen, Chief Investment Officer
“So in between that prices went up and prices went down but the space is expanding”. The expert also claimed that he did not think Bitcoin would be able to be regulated. “One, you cannot regulate Bitcoin because nobody owns it,” he said. “You cannot take the server down, there is not one server to take down, there is not one company to take down.” Bitcoin’s price fell 5.74 percent according to Coindesk, down to $7,716.73, after opening at $8,186.65, at 10.52am (GMT) on Monday 5 February.
Cryptocurrency price: A year in charts Tue, January 16, 2018 Compare crypto currencies (Ripple, Bitcoin, Ethereum, LiteCoin) on value, market cap and supply for the past year Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 10
The ban applies to Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, Halifax and MBNA and effects as many as eight million of the banking group’s customers, preventing them buying bitcoin. Having heard the news, LBC’s business correspondent Emma Sinclair said: “My immediate thought was ‘Who is a bank to tell me how to spend my money?’” However, she revealed having dug deeper into the story, Lloyds Bank has only ban credit card customers.
GETTY•LBC Bitcoin price: The truth behind Lloyds Bank cryptocurrency revealed
We continually review our products and procedures and this is part of that Lloyds Bank Spokeswoman
The banking group is worried it could end up footing the bill for unpaid debts if credit card customers lose out amid a sharp fall in the value of the bitcoin price. A Lloyds spokeswoman said: “We continually review our products and procedures and this is part of that.” Sinclair added: “Whilst it is not the job of a company to tell us how to spend our money, we’re a country in debt with high interest rates.
“And it is a question whether it’s right to allow people to buy heavily fluctuating currencies on a credit card. “I want to do what I want with my money, but I can understand the decision.” The move to ban the purchasing of cryptocurrencies on credit card was also made by several US providers.
Cryptocurrency price: A year in charts Tue, January 16, 2018 Compare crypto currencies (Ripple, Bitcoin, Ethereum, LiteCoin) on value, market cap and supply for the past year Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 10
