Bitcoin Price Woes Continue as Market Cap Shrinks to $50bn

Things are still not looking great in the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. With a 19.72% loss over the past 24 hours, the Bitcoin price momentum has taken a turn for the worse.  In fact, the Bitcoin market cap is down to US$50 billion despite rather high 24-hour trading volume. It is evident the markets are still reeling and there will be plenty more blood in the water.

Bitcoin Price Will Go Below $3,000

While it appeared as if the Bitcoin price might stabilize around US$3,500 yesterday, things have gotten a lot worse over the past few hours. Any support building around those levels has been obliterated by traders. Right now, it seems more likely the Bitcoin price will dip to below US$3,000 as there is still no bottom in sight. Any remote attempt to break this downward momentum is quickly negated thanks to people actively selling cryptocurrency as we speak.

If there is one positive note to take away from all of this, it is how the Bitcoin trading volume picked up significantly. More specifically, the past 24 hours generated over US$3.2 billion in trading volume, which is nearly double the volume we saw earlier this week. Then again, it is evident there are more people selling than buying Bitcoin right now, which means there will not be any upward momentum for quite some to come.

If this trend continues for a few more days, we may see the Bitcoin price drop back to late 2016 levels. All gains made during the first eight months of 2017 are being wiped out as we speak. Keeping in mind how there was a major Bitcoin price correction earlier this year already, this new dip may push the price down to a value well below that dip. It is unclear what the future holds, but no one can deny the sellers and bears are dominating the Bitcoin markets right now.

What is rather remarkable is how Bitfinex still generates so much trading volume right now. More specifically, the company has over US$520 million in trading volume, which is over three times as much as its nearest competitor. OKcoin and Bitstamp complete the top three, but they are well behind the rest of the world. There is also a new arbitrage gap between Chinese and Western exchanges right now, as Chinese platforms are trading Bitcoin at US$2,730, which is well below the current market average.

All of this negative momentum is also weighing heavily on the Bitcoin market cap. Whereas this market cap was trying to surpass US$75 billion not too long ago, it’s now struggling to remain above US$50 billion. A lot of money is exiting the cryptocurrency scene as we speak, although no one knows for sure if it will come back at some point. The news out of China effectively warrants a bear market for quite some time, although we can only hope it won’t last weeks or even months.

For the time being, there is nothing positive about the Bitcoin price. In fact, the only upside is how it hasn’t completely crashed to zero just yet. Nor will that happen anytime soon, but it is evident the bottom is not in sight just yet. No one knows where things will go from here, but a Bitcoin price dip to below US$2,800 is not unlikely whatsoever. It is a very volatile market right now, which creates opportunities for both gains and losses alike.