Photo = Hankyung DB
As the bitcoin price plummeted, it collapsed to the 30,000 dollar mark on the 22nd. It has fallen by about 30% in two weeks, revealing that the hope of the cryptocurrency industry, which has raised bitcoin as a’digital safe asset’, has a long way to go.
The bitcoin market price compiled by CoinDesk in the United States started at $34,000 at 0 o’clock (Korean time) on this day and dropped to 29283 dollars at 10 a.m. Although it rebounded to the early half of the $30,000 range in the afternoon, it is about 30% lower than the all-time high that reached $42,000 on the 8th. On Bithumb, a domestic cryptocurrency exchange, bitcoin slipped to 31.77 million won at one time in the morning of the day and the price returned to the level at the beginning of the year.
CNBC reported that the market capitalization of cryptocurrency fell by $152 billion (about 167 trillion won) in two days to 918 billion dollars. Bitcoin is a’bigger stock’ that occupies around 70% of the virtual currency market. In December of last year, after surpassing the 20,000 dollar mark for the first time in history, it has shown a sharp rise, breaking the 40,000 dollar mark this month.
According to the industry, there is extreme volatility as’profit realizations’ poured out following a short-term surge. “Adjustment is a natural phenomenon in any market,” said Michael Sonnen, CEO of Grayscale.
In fact, it is not easy to clearly analyze the reason for the rise or fall of Bitcoin price. Some of the industry also looked for the cause in the remarks of former U.S. Central Bank (Fed) chairman Janet Yellen, who was appointed as the first finance minister of the U.S. Joe Biden administration. Nominee Yellen gave a negative view to cryptocurrency at the Senate approval hearing on the 19th. When asked about the dangers of terrorists’ use of cryptocurrencies, he said, “I think a lot of cryptocurrencies are mainly used for illegal finance. We need to consider ways to stop money laundering.” The market took it as a sign that regulations on cryptocurrencies could be tightened.
Bitcoin surpassed $20,000 in 2017, reached a record level at the time, and then plunged to $3,000 in early 2019. Although the number of foreign institutional investors investing in bitcoin is increasing recently, many experts still show a negative view on the value of virtual currency.
Reporter Lim Hyun-woo [email protected]
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