Bitcoin, ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies have plummeted in price, with analysts warning that the market has hit “panic mode”.
Ethereum experienced the biggest drop in value of all the major digital currencies, falling by nearly 20 per cent over the last 24 hours to hit its lowest price in almost a year.
Massive trading volumes suggest a mass sell-off, with ethereum trading at $262 at the time of writing. The price of bitcoin has fallen to $6,043, down 7 per cent since this time yesterday.
Bitcoin’s volatile history in pictures
1/8 Satoshi Nakamoto creates the first bitcoin block in 2009
On 3 January, 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto detailed the cryptocurrency in a paper titled ‘Bitcoin: A peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’
Reuters
2/8 Bitcoin is used as a currency for the first time
On 22 May, 2010, the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction took place. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins – the equivalent of $90 million at today’s prices
Lazlo Hanyecz
3/8 Silk Road opens for business
Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the dark web. The Silk Road marketplace, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoin
4/8 The first bitcoin ATM appears
On 29 October, 2013, the first ever bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins for cash
REUTERS/Dimitris Michalakis
5/8 The fall of MtGox
The world’s biggest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing almost 750,000 of its customers bitcoins. At the time, this was around 7 per cent of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed
Getty Images
6/8 Would the real Satoshi Nakamoto please stand up
In 2015, Australian police raided the home of Craig Wright after the entrepreneur claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He later rescinded the claim
Getty Images
7/8 Bitcoin’s big split
On 1 August, 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the network split. The fork of bitcoin’s underlying blockchain technology spawned a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin cash
REUTERS
8/8 Bitcoin’s price sky rockets
Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin surged to almost $20,000. This represented a 1,300 per cent increase from its price at the start of the year
Reuters
1/8 Satoshi Nakamoto creates the first bitcoin block in 2009
On 3 January, 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto detailed the cryptocurrency in a paper titled ‘Bitcoin: A peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’
Reuters
2/8 Bitcoin is used as a currency for the first time
On 22 May, 2010, the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction took place. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins – the equivalent of $90 million at today’s prices
Lazlo Hanyecz
3/8 Silk Road opens for business
Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the dark web. The Silk Road marketplace, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoin
4/8 The first bitcoin ATM appears
On 29 October, 2013, the first ever bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins for cash
REUTERS/Dimitris Michalakis
5/8 The fall of MtGox
The world’s biggest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing almost 750,000 of its customers bitcoins. At the time, this was around 7 per cent of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed
Getty Images
6/8 Would the real Satoshi Nakamoto please stand up
In 2015, Australian police raided the home of Craig Wright after the entrepreneur claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He later rescinded the claim
Getty Images
7/8 Bitcoin’s big split
On 1 August, 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the network split. The fork of bitcoin’s underlying blockchain technology spawned a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin cash
REUTERS
8/8 Bitcoin’s price sky rockets
Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin surged to almost $20,000. This represented a 1,300 per cent increase from its price at the start of the year
Reuters
Cryptocurrency analysts have linked the latest market movements to the liquidation of funds raised through ICOs (initial coin offerings), meaning companies may be selling the ethereum raised through the popular fundraising mechanism.
“The crypto market seems to have hit panic mode, with prices falling significantly across the board. As we can see in the case of ethereum, investors seem to be increasing liquidations of their ICO holdings, with significant drops in price and increased volumes,” said Matthew Newton, an analyst at the online trading platform eToro.
“This has had a knock-on effect on the rest of the [cryptocurrency] market, with bitcoin also momentarily dropping below $6,000 late last night. With prices hanging in the balance, emotions will be running high among traders. But keeping things in perspective, bitcoin is still range-bound for now between $5,700 to $8,000 in line with how it has traded over the past few months.”
Cryptocurrency investors have been sharing their tales of woe on community forums, with some revealing the extent of their personal losses.
“I got into crypto’s at the end of January,” one member of the cryptocurrency forum on Reddit. “Put around 25,000 USD in in total, spread out pretty well I thought.”
They continued: “I was never really worried during that past dips as I had a lot of faith in the future of crypto’s and the technology… But the dips kept coming… My portfolio of 25k is now barely worth 5k, and not even worth selling. At this point I’d much rather consider it all lost.”
Others in the sub-Reddit said they would make the most of the price crash by “buying the dip”, despite the downward trend across markets in 2018.
“I honestly didn’t believe the alt market… would hit these levels,” one user wrote. “Well, I can only think of one thing to do. Time to double down. I’m either winning big or going down with the ship.”
Experts warn that the volatility of cryptocurrencies mean people should not invest more than they can afford to lose.
>
