The new year is right around the corner, and now is the time to reflect on all that we accomplished, and all that went on in the world. While there was a lot, the domination of digital currency bitcoin might just end up having a photo finish with the inauguration of Donald Trump.
However, instead of “laying low” and going gently into the new year, Bitcoin made headlines on December 22. Bitcoin plunged today on the market, just one week after it hit an all-time high on the 10th.
What’s Been Going On?
Early Friday morning reports surfaced that bitcoin had dropped 40% on the Coinbase exchange, and by Friday afternoon, the trading price for the digital currency was reported by Bloomberg as $13,608, meaning this is an approximate 20% drop from where it sat the day before. The drop in price is starting to affect various companies and firms in the market as well, such as Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ:RIOT) and Bitcoin Trust (OTCMKTS:GBTC), which all dropped almost 20% yesterday after bitcoin fell more than 5% in a span of 24 hours. Last month, the virtual currency was trading around $6,000, and it started 2017 trading under $1,000.
One aspect of bitcoin is that the market is volatile, and while most people know that and invest anyway, this week has been particularly rocky. Still, there are benefits to the digital currency, and like with anything, there will always be skeptics and critics. A number of people, such as business leaders and public figures, took to Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) Friday in order to discuss the drop, and to hopefully reassure their followers about what is actually going on with bitcoin.
The Tweets
While not on Twitter, but still very important, former macro manager Michael Novogratz announced Friday that he thinks bitcoin might continue to drop, reaching $8,000 at one point, unsure of whether it will climb back up after that.
On the other side of the equation, Kansas critical care physician Robert Reid took advantage of the 280 character update, posting to his followers (it got 3.2K retweets and 4.8K favorites) that the digital currency had actually “crashed” 30% six different times this year alone. But that’s not bad news. Reid added that after each of the six “crashes”, bitcoin soared, even hitting 237% at one point.
Reid added that bitcoin tends to follow a “7 steps forward, 2 steps back” routine, and essentially the public needs to relax because it’s normal and totally okay.
Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, also joined in on Twitter. He essentially said that everyone nursing their losses today are inexperienced bitcoin traders, noting that “of course” bitcoin goes down too. Gerber added that “it’s very good and healthy” for a huge bitcoin correction.
Meanwhile, US House of Representatives candidate Brianna Wu didn’t give any facts or statistics about the drop, but simply shunned those who were using this moment as an “I told you so.”
What do you think about the drop? Do you think bitcoin will continue to be in a slump in the new year? Check back in January!
Featured Image: depositphotos/denisismagilov
