Bitcoin has been the guiding cryptocurrency since this new financial instrument emerged on the world stage. But 2018 has been all but a happy journey for those attracted by the mirage of overnight enrichment. Bitcoin is rapidly dropping its value, and the downward trend might not end soon.
Approximately two years ago it was a cool topic to discuss as Bitcoin, and the whole cryptocurrency market was emerging from the meanders of the internet. A year ago, everybody was already cut in the vortex as the crypto bubble was at its peak with Bitcoin nearing the $20,000 value per a single unit.
Other similar crypto coins like Ethereum, Ripple, BitcoinGold or Litcoin were having similar surges as the frenzy ad already reached a point similar to madness.
Bitcoin has now lost more than three-quarters of its peak value
According to coinmarket.com, Bitcoin is still the main crypto asset but is now sitting in some troubled waters with its market value significantly diminished. At the time being, Bitcoin barely hangs above the $4,000 per unit value as the last couple of weeks witnessed several aggressive sell-off sprees.
Other crypto coins lost even more of their peak value. Ethereum, Ripple, and BitcoinGold lost almost 90 percent of their highest value ever recorded.
Holding a $70 billions market capitalization, Bitcoin also engulfs more than 53 percent of the entire cryptocurrency landscape.
While some may argue using a too-big-to-fail-type argument, the volatility that drives this particular market offers no guarantees whatsoever.
What made Bitcoin so attractive
As any other finance-related mean, Bitcoin gave people a shortcut to get rich in a short amount of time. Of course, that only applied for those who had previously bought the coin at a significantly low price.
What people didn't know (or did know but they deliberately chose not to pay attention to) was that Bitcoin craze was following the pattern of a financial bubble.
To understand how big the speculative bubble was it's enough to remember that some were using their credit cards to buy those precious virtual tokens no one seemed to have a clue about how they really work.
Eventually, some banks put a hold to the craze by not allowing its customers to buy crypto coins using their credit cards.
Almost a year after Bitcoin hit the $20,000 value, the crypto market is at a crossroad with no solid perspective for the upcoming future. Some won it big by making a fortune in a matter of weeks, but the vast majority's experience can be reduced to a terribly bad investment endeavor.
