Bitcoin Prices Extend Losses, Hit New 2018 Low

Bitcoin declined further on Friday night, building upon its recent losses and establishing a fresh low for 2018 july 5.

The cryptocurrency dropped to $6,938.17, its lowest since November 2016, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI).

At this point, it had plunged 57.2% from the start of the year and roughly 70% from its all-time high of $20,783.21 set in December 2017, additional BPI figures show.

Bitcoin prices had recovered somewhat at the time of this writing, trading at $6,122.74.

[Ed note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.]

Bitcoin's Downward Trend

The digital currency's most recent declines may simply be part of a downward trend that several analysts have mentioned.

Marius Rupsys, a digital currency investor, has repeatedly spoken to this development.

He emphasized that while Bitcoin has been pushing steadily lower, "The question is when big investors will come back."
Retail traders might be actively buying and selling, but their volumes aren't sufficient to move market significantly to either side. 'Wait and see' is for larger investors, who try to get in crypto assets using OTC."
The volume is going down consistently on all major exchanges (ie. Bitfinex), so this sell pressure is reducing as less and less people willing to sell."

"I am waiting for volume to pick up, which is likely to push price upwards (given sellers sold and new investors want to get in). Though, it is very difficult to know when that happens, therefore my position is to wait for price action with volume."

Nate Flanders, CEO of Delaware-based Mandala, has also spoken to Bitcoin's current trend, emphasizing that the digital currency has struggled to set new highs over the last several months.

Potential Downside

Now that Bitcoin has fallen to a new, 2018 low, it could experience further downside, should bearish momentum continue.
If Bitcoin breaks the 2018 lows watch for a spike in volume and a possible fast drop in price towards the $6000level."

Jeff Koyen, CEO of 366Blockchain USA, has also emphasized that he expects Bitcoin will suffer additional sell-offs.

He predicted that Bitcoin could plunge to as little as $5k before bargain hunters intervene, buying up the digital currency.

Disclosure: I own some Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ether.