UPDATED 22:20 EDT / DECEMBER 06 2018

BLOCKCHAIN

As bear market returns, bitcoin crashes to lowest level since January 2017

Bitcoin has dropped to its lowest price since January 2017 as investors once again sold off cryptocurrencies across the board after a brief break in the bear market last week.

Like previous price drops, the reason behind the latest selloff does not have a single cause. Instead, a number of negative news stories around bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies may have contributed to market sentiment.

Starting Wednesday, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mike McGlone said in a note to subscribers, prices for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are likely to weaken, with bitcoin falling to about $1,500, an additional drop of around 60 percent from its current level.

Citing the Bitcoin Cash war that triggered the last big drop in bitcoin’s price starting Nov. 14, McGlone said in an interview that “the hard fork was a key trigger that signaled the technology is way too nascent. You had these dicey characters threatening to destroy each other and institutions said, ‘It might be best if we stay away from this for a while.'”

The same Bloomberg report noted that bitcoin’s Average Directional Index, a technical indicator that rises as negative selling trends strengthen, is at its highest level since July.

The latest drop in cryptocurrencies also follows the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s once-again delayed approval of a change of rules to allow a bitcoin ETF from investment firm VanEck and blockchain company SolidX to list on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. The same application had been previously delayed in AugustCointelegraph reported that the SEC had delayed a decision until Feb. 27 in order to review proposed rule changes further.

The SEC’s ongoing delay, added to a decision by the commission Nov. 18 to settle a lawsuit with two companies that undertook unregistered initial coin offerings, leads some to believe that the SEC may be moving toward a more negative stance when it comes to cryptocurrency markets.

Bitcoin was trading at $3,329.30 as of 10 p.m. EST, its lowest price since way back on Jan. 20. The contagion was across the board, with all major cryptocurrencies down. Ethereum was the hardest-hit, down almost 17 percent in the last 24 hours, to $82.71, its lowest level since May 2017.

Photo: Pexels

A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Your vote of support is important to us and it helps us keep the content FREE.

One click below supports our mission to provide free, deep, and relevant content.  

Join our community on YouTube

Join the community that includes more than 15,000 #CubeAlumni experts, including Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy, Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, and many more luminaries and experts.

“TheCUBE is an important partner to the industry. You guys really are a part of our events and we really appreciate you coming and I know people appreciate the content you create as well” – Andy Jassy

THANK YOU