Crypto-exchange founder says bitcoin’s drop is nothing to worry about
Major cryptocurrencies traded lower Monday, unable to capitalize on last week’s rebound off multimonth lows.
Bitcoin BTCUSD, +2.09% , the world’s largest cryptocurrency, has fallen as much as 8% and is nearing last week’s multimonth low around $3,500. On the Kraken cryptocurrency exchange, a single bitcoin BTCUSD, +2.09% was fetching $3,822.50, down 8.1%, since Sunday’s level at 5 p.m. Eastern time.
Earlier in the session bitcoin traded to a session low at $3,802.50.
Founder of crypto exchange undeterred
Danny Scott, the CEO and co-founder of CoinCorner, an Isle of Man-based cryptocurrency exchange, said the selloff in bitcoin is something he has witnessed many times over, and therefore it is not of major concern. “If we look back over bitcoin’s short 10-year history, it has experienced many price fluctuations — something that is to be expected given that the industry is still very young,” he wrote.
“There have been a number of sizeable price movements over the years which have typically gone unnoticed by anyone except those within the industry. For example, in 2013 we saw the price drop 49.88% in just 14 days, which is a bigger drop than the one we have experienced over these last two weeks.”
Altcoin losses mount
After finishing last week on the back foot, altcoins, or coins other than bitcoin, have extended losses into Monday. Ether ETHUSD, +1.48% is down 8.6% at $106.42, litecoin LTCUSD, +1.55% has fallen 10.2% to $30.49, XRP XRPUSD, +0.76% has slid 6.6% to 34 cents, and bitcoin cash BCHUSD, -2.34% is off 10.9% at $155.10.
The altcoin underperformance has dragged bitcoin’s share of the total market for all cryptocurrencies to 53.7%, up from 37.8% since the beginning of 2018, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Bitcoin futures finished Monday lower. The Cboe Global Markets December contract XBTZ8, +2.83% ended down 3.4% to $3,802.50 while the CME Group December contract BTCZ8, +3.16% closed the session down 3.2% to $3,800.