Bitcoin falls further below US$4,000; crypto continues plunge

[NEW YORK] The great crypto crash of 2018 plunged deeper over the weekend.

Bitcoin slid another 4.5 per cent to US$3,635 at midnight Sunday in New York, according to Bitstamp. It recouped most of the losses by 7:50 am but remains in the red. It's lost 33 per cent in the past week and 75 per cent this year.

Cryptocurrencies just had their worst week ever, and Bitcoin is 82 per cent below its high of US$19,666 almost a year ago. Ripple declined 5.3 per cent to 35 cents, and is about 90 per cent below its peak.

After an epic rally last year that exceeded many of history's most notorious bubbles, digital currencies have become mired in an almost US$700 billion rout that shows few signs of abating. Many of the concerns that sparked the 2018 retreat - including increased regulatory scrutiny, community infighting and exchange snafus - have only intensified this week.

Even after the steep losses, Oanda Corp's Stephen Innes has yet to see strong evidence of a capitulation that would signal a market bottom.

"There's still a lot of people in this game," Mr Innes, head of trading for Asia Pacific at Oanda, said by phone from Singapore last week. "If we start to see a run down toward US$3,000, this thing is going to be a monster. People will be running for the exits."

Innes said his base-case forecast is for Bitcoin, which turns 10 this year, to trade between US$3,500 and US$6,500 in the short term, with the potential to fall to US$2,500 by January.

BLOOMBERG