Bitcoin dropped as low at $21,047 down 14.7% over the past 24 hours (data from coingecko.com/tradingview charts). Bitcoin has sunk to it's lowest level since late 2020. Why and how will it go down? Is this the end of Cryptocurrency? Should you start investing now if you haven't started? Let's answer these questions.
Cryptocurrency lender Celsius may have fuelled the fear by blocking customers from withdrawing funds citing "extreme market conditions". Celsius is one of the biggest players in the cryptocurrency market for digital yields, and allowing users to lend their tokens as collateral for other crypto projects.
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange halted withdrawals of bitcoin for several hours after celsius halted withdrawals. It pointed to a "stuck transaction" for the suspension (FT.com)
Why Did Bitcoin Drop to 21K? Where is the bottom
There is a lot of fear in the market. We were already entering a cryptocurrency winter where the general market was trending down. The recent crash of the Terra Luna UST algorithmic stablecoin was backed in Bitcoin reserves and pushed Bitcoin and the market down further. Inflation seems to be surging in North America making everyday purchases such as gas and groceries.
It's difficult to know where the bottom is for bitcoin and ethereum ($1176). If you are looking to get a position in Bitcoin and Ethereum it is for sale, but you can reduce your risk by dollar cost averaging (DCA) in. This means don't bet the farm in one big buy, but rather spread your buys with smaller amounts spread out over time. For example, depending on your budget you could purchase $100 of bitcoin every week. The amount and term are up to you, but the idea is that instead of timing the market your average purchase price will average out over time. It's also good to diversify into different assets (stocks, real estate) so you're not exposed in times like these. My disclaimer is that this is not financial advice, and yes I'm also dollar cost averaging in and I do have positions of both Bitcoin and Ethereum. Your average person is not aware you can buy, hold and earn interest (2-5%) on Bitcoin and Ethereum on exchanges like Binance.
Is this the end of Crypto?
As a cryptocurrency Youtuber and Educator I would say I've got my head down the rabbit hole deeper than the average person. I also have been following mainstream news from Bloomberg technology, Financial times, Youtuber's, Whitepapers from Venture Capital funds & Coingecko and more. What I gather is that Bitcoin and Ethereum will eventually go up and bitcoin may go up to 500K or higher in 5 years. I've been attending events for WEB3 and NFT's in Vancouver and there is strong local interest in the technology even though it is early stages. Some altcoins may not survive and cryptocurrency exchanges (coinbase, crypto.com, blockfi, gemini) have already announced layoffs to their workforce. You have large companies like Tesla that had $2B worth of Bitcoin (at the end of 2021) and countrie(s) that have adopted Bitcoin as legal tended like El Salvador have 2301 bitcoin ($50.5M). Central African Republic was the second country to adopt bitcoin. Venture Capital Firm A16z doubled down on a fresh WEB3 fund in may bringing their total investment to $7.6B. Web 3 is the future vision of the Internet that is more decentralized where cryptocurrency technologies such as blockchains, smart contracts, NFT's, and DAO's will play a role of bringing more control and power to builders and creators.
We are also seeing real world applications of blockchain technology. Vechain 5 days ago confirmed their multiyear partnership with the UFC (World's largest MMA organization) worth 100M. We saw the vechain logo featured prominently in the octagon and the their supply chain technology will be used in everything from the rankings to a visible branded presence.
Summary
Given all this investment in the space I would say it is far from the end of cryptocurrency. After the cryptocurrency winter is over, we will have to assess the casualties. As I mentioned some altcoins may not survive, but the technology of WEB3 and the metaverse offer exciting possibilities with real applications in the near future. Bitcoin is the OG cryptocurrency with the largest market cap and Ethereum is the second with a large ecosystem that consists of NFT and decentralized exchanges like Uniswap. There is a good chance that will survive and thrive after the cryptocurrency winter.