Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $20,000 on Tuesday, continuing a weeklong slump that has seen it drop over 10% from its 2018 high. The cryptocurrency has fallen over 20% since Dec. 1 as investors digest news about China's plan to regulate and ban cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin (BTC) was trading below $20,000 on Tuesday as the cryptocurrency market struggled to find its footing following the weekend's strong rally.
Bitcoin was trading at $19,590 by 7:30 a.m ET Tuesday morning, according to data from CoinMarketCap. It has lost about 1 percent since hitting an all-time high of $20,000 last week and has fallen more than 25 percent since reaching an intraday high of almost $25,900 in early August.
The benchmark cryptocurrency traded $19,958.19 at press time, having fallen by nearly 3% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index. It continues to be in red for the second consecutive day. Bitcoin fell over 4% on Monday and briefly tested below $20,000 after briefly crossing the psychological barrier on Sunday.
The selloff in bitcoin has weighed on other coins as well. Ether (ETH), the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market value, fell 5% to $527. XRP was down 3% at around 37 cents and bitcoin cash lost 1% to trade near $254.
Bitcoin is still down more than 2 percent today and its lowest since late November when it dropped below $15,000 for the first time since mid-August 2017 according to CoinMarketCap data.
The total value of all cryptocurrencies is down 2% in the last 24 hours at roughly $570 billion and bitcoin's dominance rate climbed back above 63%, CoinGecko data shows.
Bitcoin's price has fallen by more than 20% since its record high above $20,000 reached on December 18th. Since then, it’s been one of the worst performing assets in what has become an ongoing bear market for cryptocurrencies as a whole.
The unexpected decline could be a result of uncertainty surrounding China's new digital currency policy, which will restrict financial institutions from providing services related to cryptocurrencies. That said, there is no indication that bitcoin mining would be banned in China in the immediate term.
Bitcoin mining remains legal in China and has been so since 2014 when the People's Bank of China (PBoC) recognized bitcoin as an "asset" that was not subject to taxation or regulation by any government agency. According to an article published by Bloomberg on June 25th this year: "The PBoC has kept its previous stance on Bitcoin and other virtual currencies unchanged."
In short: Bitcoin mining cannot be defined as illegal or immoral; however if you use these machines for something other than what they were intended for – then it becomes a grey area where law enforcement may decide whether or not they should intervene with their actions accordingly...
Bitcoin prices have been volatile lately
Bitcoin prices have been volatile lately. The cryptocurrency fell by nearly 3% in the past 24 hours, and was down around 4% on Monday. This is one of the biggest declines since June, when bitcoin briefly touched $20,000 after crossing its own psychological barrier of $19,000 for the first time since August 2017.
Bitcoin has fallen back below this level today after briefly testing below $20k again at 19:00 UTC (5pm EDT).
It seems that bitcoin is having a bit of a tough time right now, but it's still a great time to get into the crypto world. Keep an eye on your favorite coins and keep an open mind.
