Bitcoin hits a historic 12 month low of $5400. The pre-eminent cryptocurrency has cratered 11 percent just within the last four hours. The enormous drop in price appears to be driven by major Bitcoin and derivatives exchange BitMEX, representing 34 percent of 24-hour market volume.
The bear market continues. Following the hysteria experienced during the peak of trading in prices in January, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and many other major coins are quickly shedding market capitalization. The across the board price drops are following the plunge in Bitcoin’s price.
The duration of the current bear market is unprecedented for 2015-2018, spanning five continuous months since the rebound in May.
That said, the market has made some major recoveries during this year. In February and May, the market rebounded to a total market capitalization of $500 billion and $450 billion, and a minor rebound in late July at $300 billion.
None of these rebounds are even close to the market’s all-time high of $850 billion.
For shrewd traders, now is the time to exchange crypto-holdings for stable coins such as TrueUSD, USD Coin, or Tether to weather market volatility and mitigate any further losses.
The End for Bitcoin?
Some have claimed that this could finally signal the end to Bitcoin as the market experiences month over month losses. However, this isn’t the first nor the worst bear market in Bitcoin’s history.
In December of 2013, the market reached an all-time high of $13 billion, growing 8x (from $1.7 billion) in the span of two months. The market was then devastated over the next 10 months, shrinking below $3 billion and losing 77 percent percent of its value from all-time highs.
Risk Reward
Many crypto die-hards appear unphased by the drop in prices. For many, this is just another lull in the grand scheme of things. Many on Reddit and Twitter are doubling down on HODL, quoting that to “experience the highs of crypto it is necessary to endure the lows.”
Some in the broader community say this could finally be the end to Bitcoin, and the continuous drops in price are indicative of a trend towards Bitcoin-obscurity. Whatever happens, the market shall decide who’s right.
The post Bitcoin Plunges to $5400: 12 Month Low, Market Sheds $25 Billion appeared first on CryptoSlate.
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