Bitcoin has closed 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.”
The largest crypto-currency by market value has notched only about a dozen up days this month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, with the rest of the time mired in a decline. Other digital assets have also suffered, with No. 2 token Ether down roughly 30 percent since the end of December.
Bitcoin dipped to as low as $33,000 in January from a record of almost $69,000 less than three months ago amid a broader sell-off 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 percent to trade at around US$36,680 before recouping losses. — Bloomberg.



