Bitcoin’s market capitalization sunk below $100 billion for the first time since October 2017 on Thursday, falling to low of $97,554,227,588 before reversing. As of 1:52 p.m. HK/SIN, the cryptocurrency’s value was $97,931,254,200 according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin was trading at $5,554.70 on Coinbase, the most popular bitcoin exchange, a $734.33 decline since yesterday or an 11.71 percent loss. The cryptocurrency has eased 25.47 percent since last year. Bitcoin traded at over $19,000 per coin as recently as December 2017.
Thursday’s dramatic losses followed a global selloff on Wednesday which may have been prompted by a “hard fork” being implemented by bitcoin cash, a breakoff of the standard bitcoin. A hard fork is the technical term for a form of cryptocurrency software upgrade that has been known to bring chaos to the relevant cryptocurrency. When traders become concerned about the technology surrounding a hard fork they tend to sell their holdings. Widespread selloffs lower the price of a cryptocurrency which then triggers stop losses for other traders’ open positions, amplifying the losses as traders mitigate their risks. Nevertheless, analysts don’t expect this selloff to start a long-term trend.
Oil Prices Also Head Lower
Oil prices were also lower on Thursday, pressured by rising supply and a distressing global economic outlook which could reduce demand. Data released this week by Germany and Japan, two of the world’s biggest industrial producers, showed economic contractions, while China’s economy remains depressed as well. China is the second-largest crude consumer in the world.
U.S. WTI futures were down 0.28 percent to $56.09 per barrel on Thursday afternoon in Asia, while Brent crude futures were down 0.12 percent to $66.04 per barrel. Oil prices have lost nearly one quarter of their value since last month. OPEC and its oil-producing allies are considering the possibility of implementing a supply cut similar to the one they implemented in 2017 in an effort to reduce supply and prop oil prices up. A formal decision is expected to be issued after the OPEC meeting next month.