For some investors, these past 24 hours have represented a state of panic, as cryptocurrency markets are experiencing a major drawback after an explosive December and first half of January. With Bitcoin down over 20%, only one coin on the top 100 outside of Tether (USDT) has maintained its dollar value in the wake of the current Bitcoin dump.
Neblio (NEBL) is the only currency in the top 100 on Coinmarketcap that has appreciated in the past 24 hours, gaining 1% in USD to achieve a price of US$23.86. Beyond that, only 22 of the other 99 currencies on the front page have outperformed Bitcoin. Fortunately, Bitcoin has maintained value above the 10k support, and has only spent small amounts of time below US$11,000.
Supporters and skeptics alike have a number of theories to support this major downtrend, in which the global market cap has dropped over US$1050 billion. Before today, the overall market was worth 680 billion. After reaching a low of 450 billion, the global cap is currently valued at 530 billion.
A major factor many have attributed to this downtrend is recent uncertainty towards cryptocurrency in South Korea. Briefly, there were government talks of prohibiting cryptocurrency to some extent. This will not be the case in Korea, as these talks were responded to by hundreds of thousands of citizens signing a petition in support of cryptocurrency overnight, as well as calling for the resignation of the Minister of Finance. However, there is still likely going to be some regulation manifesting in Korea, which has investors worldwide secured.
Another major belief suggests that institutional plays are driving the price down. Because CME and CBOE Bitcoin futures first expire tomorrow, institutions who have shorted Bitcoin are pushing the market down to take maximum profits from the impending closures, in which “losing” long positions will be forced to liquidate and reward their winning counterparts.
However, many others believe that all that is taking place is the January dump. Every January for the past several years, Bitcoin sees a significant loss before inevitably rebounding and surpassing previous highs. This can be due to any or a combination of number of possible factors. Lunar New Year is taking place soon, in which many traders will be taking out profits to afford travel and gifts. It is also likely that successful traders in 2017 have held off on taking profits until now, so as to put off taxes for another year. Of course, it can all be entirely coincidental.
While the future for cryptocurrency is uncertain, many firmly believe that, along with all previous major dips, this one will also be followed by an even bigger pump. With countless major technologies coming to market this year, fundamental analysis would suggest that the future is still very, very bright.
