Bitcoin Price Drops to Within $100 of 2018 Low
The price of bitcoin fell to its lowest point since February today.
As of press time, the leading cryptocurrency's price went as low as $6,063, according to CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index (BPI), a significant drop considering the day's opening price of $6,717.20.
The near-$700 decline (which saw prices decline roughly 10 percent) effectively brought bitcoin to within $100 of its 2018 low of $5,947, reached February 6.
At the time, bitcoin was in free-fall amid regulatory uncertainty, with the decline occurring during the week in which the heads of major U.S. regulators were to meet and discuss the cryptocurrency's price rise with a committee of U.S. lawmakers. Ultimately, however, no action was taken and the price rebounded 40 percent on the week.
Conditions today, however, look different.
At press time, bitcoin's price – currently hovering just above $6,000 – is down more than 60 percent from the 2018 high of $19,783 set in January. Further, aside from some potential action against smaller Japan-based exchanges, no major news drivers are currently impacting the market.
Other cryptocurrencies are following suit as bitcoin continues to flirt with support levels, as shown in data published by sources like OnChainFX.
Litecoin, for example – the world's sixth largest cryptocurrency by market cap – hit its lowest level in 7 months on Friday. The price of ether currently at about $479, roughly 60 percent from its all-time high in December 2017.
As it stands, the overall cryptocurrency market cap is $259 billion, down from its high of $813 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Other indicators similarly depict the state of the market as it stands today.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI), a popular momentum indicator, demonstrates a weekly value of 41 according to Bitfinex exchange data, a level that was last seen in August 2015.
Compared to bitcoin's lowest weekly RSI level (27) for the prolonged bear market in 2014, current levels show scope for significant additional depreciation.