Bitcoin fell sharply over the Thanksgiving weekend, dragging the wider cryptocurrency market down with it, including ripple (XRP) and ethereum’s ether, as last week’s huge sell-0ff surged back, destroying hopes the bitcoin market had found a floor.
The bitcoin price dropped to a low of $3,604 according to CoinDesk’s bitcoin price tracker, before rebounding back over the psychological $4,000 mark. The bitcoin price is currently hovering around $4,000 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange, as the volatility seen throughout November continues to cause chaos for traders, investors, and exchanges.
The bitcoin price is now off some 80% from highs of almost $20,000 late last year, while other major cryptocurrencies ripple (XRP) and ethereum are down by similar amounts. Bitcoin has lost some 40% of its value in just two weeks of November, the worst bitcoin price drop since April 2013.
Cryptocurrencies including bitcoin, ethereum, ripple, and litecoin showed unprecedented growth in 2017, growing more than 5000%, with market-leader bitcoin topping out at nearly $20,000 per coin just before the new year. Since then, however, the whole cryptocurrency sector has declined dramatically losing over 80% its value.
The bitcoin price falls over the weekend do not appear to be linked to any particular fresh news but a continuation of the sell-off sparked earlier this month by the fork of the bitcoin cash cryptocurrency that ignited a civil war between the bitcoin rival’s two factions.
Low trading volumes over the holiday weekend, however, mean the market is more vulnerable to so-called “whales” moving large amounts of bitcoin, ripple (XRP), or ethereum. When a major coin holder sells it can trigger automatic computer controlled sell orders leading to sudden sell-offs.
Bitcoin’s 24-hour trading volume fell under $4 billion for the first time on Saturday evening, the first time trading volumes fell under $4 billion since November last year.
Ripple, the common name for the XRP digital token, has held up better than most over November’s sell-off, boosted by deals it continues to ink with the traditional financial services industry to provider cheap and speedy cross-border transactions. Ripple (XRP) has however recorded significant falls over the weekend, though has led the rally this morning, popping 10% higher.
Despite many bitcoin faithful arguing bitcoin is merely on discount for Cyber Monday today ahead of a so-called Santa rally (which traditionally sees stocks around the world move high in the run-up to Christmas), others are losing faith in the future of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as this year’s $700 billion rout tightens its grip.
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