Bitcoin price: January loss is worst start to year since Crypto winter
Bitcoin is closing out a rough month, with January declines putting the digital coin on pace for its worst start to a year since the dawn of the 2018 “crypto winter.” Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, has notched only 11 up days this month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, meaning that it’s spent 65% of the month mired in a decline. Other digital assets have also suffered, with No. 2 token Ether down roughly 30% since the end of December. Bitcoin price dipped to as low as $33,000 in January from a record of almost $69,000 less than three months ago amid a broader selloff in risk assets on growing conviction that the Federal Reserve will soon raise rates as it ratchets back its ultra-accommodative policy settings. The plunge has hit all corners of the crypto ecosystem, from Bitcoin and memecoins to publicly-listed crypto exchanges and miners.
“Crypto is a very volatile asset class -- and I hope that everyone participating in that market is aware of the volatility potential,” Troy Gayeski, chief market strategist at FS Investments, said by phone. “It’s a much trickier environment than it was six months ago, 12 months ago, 18 months ago where it was ‘green-light go.’ Now it’s ‘yellow-light caution.’”
On Monday, Bitcoin fell as much as 2.9% to trade at around $36,680 before recouping losses. Its monthly decline now stands at more than 18%, the worst start to a year since 2018’s 29% decline and a grim follow-up to December’s 19% slump.
The declines in prices have also translated to lower volume, according to a report from CryptoCompare.
“Macro sentiment around risk assets has been the leading narrative in the markets, with expectations of significant tapering of quantitative easing” following a string
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