Bitcoin Sinks to Under $6,000

Banking, finance, and taxes

Published: June 29, 2018 11:40 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 9:39 pm

Bellwether cryptocurrency bitcoin (BTC) closed trading Thursday at less than $6,000 for the first time since mid-November of last year. Bitcoin traded at just about $5,800 at its low point and has since risen back to just under $5,900.

While some traders see the dip as a buying opportunity, the recent top is just over $5,900, and the price is headed in the wrong direction for crypto bulls.

Bitcoin was not alone. Over the past 24 hours, ethereum (ETH) is down just over 5%, Ripple (XRT) is down 5.4% and bitcoin cash (BCH) is down about 5.3%. Of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, only one, tether (USDT), is trading higher. Tether is a so-called stablecoin the issuer claims is backed by a one-for-one dollar reserve.

Whether one is a crypto coin bull or a bear, one thing should be clear. Crypto investors appetite for risk has dropped along with the value of the coins and tokens on offer. Bitcoin once traded near $18,000, for example.

According to Coindesk, as investors become more risk-averse they move out of higher-risk cryptocurrencies and into bitcoin, with some barely pausing before heading back to fiat currency markets. Coindesk’s Omkar Godbole explains:

Unfortunately for the bulls, the stage looks set for a further decline in bitcoin prices. Even so, the bears still need to keep their eyes open, as the unwinding of short positions ahead of month’s end and more importantly, quarter’s end, could again lift prices above $6,000.

Bitcoin July futures (XBTN8) traded on the Cboe at $5,885 shortly before noon Friday, down 3% for the day. The contract closed at $6,067.50 on Thursday and opened at $5,950 this morning. The day’s range is $5,755 to $5,970.