he price of Bitcoin has dropped to an unbelievable 64.5% since 17th December 2017. The mutual market capitalization of the industry now is at just $338 billion.
That’s a big drop for any market. However, a price crash in Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency is nothing new. Bitcoin usually takes a step back and comes back to life on a usual basis. According to a source Bitcoin’s death toll stands at 249 and counting, dating back to 2010.
What’s Causing The Bitcoin Crash?
A whole slide of bad news has led to a huge dip in the crypto economy. Bitfinex is drawing the rage of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission because the exchange site offers users an alternative to tether their currency to the American dollar. The doubtful thing about that is neither Bitfinex nor Tether can essentially prove they have adequate money in bank accounts to back up the USDT token.
India which homes to a large number of bitcoin traders and investors is cracking down on traders. The country’s government is reviewing transactions on multiple exchanges in order to try and collect tax revenue. Estimates hint that in every 10 bitcoin transactions in the world takes place in India ( Approx .$3.5 billion in transactions in last 17 months).
And then there are South Korean authorities with major confusion on how to proceed with the regulations. The country has no intention to ban cryptocurrency trading outright. But the government has taken steps to remove vagueness from the equation. South Korean traders must now use their real names in order to open a virtual account and do the transaction.
The last coup de grace is added when China reportedly blocked everyone in the country from accessing websites that offer cryptocurrency trading services or initial coin offerings (ICOs). Advertisements relating to Bitcoin and other virtual currencies have also been scrubbed from search engines and social media in the country.
All of this has contributed to the crypto bloodbath.
It’s not just the crypto market that’s feeling the burn. The Dow Jones Industrial Average just smacked a three-week low due to rising US government bond yields.
Dealing with the lows
Even most novice investors are aware of the old saying ‘buy low, sell high’. May be this is the perfect time to get into this. Looking at the above chart, Bitcoin’s nastiest crash lasted 411 days, ending in January of 2015. The crash sent bitcoin’s price dropping 87%.
At the time of writing this article, the price is down 64.5% in the last 51 days. If that happened in the stock market, news media outlets would call it 2008 recession all over again.
In the case of cryptocurrency, increased regulation is the reason for the crash. That’s definitely bad news for short-term investors. Those optimistic on the long-run however see regulation as a compulsory step in the continuing fight to legitimize cryptocurrency and bring it further into the land of mass adoption.
Ricky Makan is a venture capitalist and Crypto Enthusiast best known for pioneering the market for Digital Marketing. He is a Co-founder of Unkrypted, a platform which provides the latest news and information that helps understand everything about the ever-evolving world of digital currencies.