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LONDON – Bitcoin has plummeted nearly $ 3,000 in less than 24 hours after hitting unseen highlights since late 2017.
The price of bitcoin was trading at $ 19,374 at 1:45 pm London time on Wednesday when it started to slide. Losses accelerated overnight, with the price dropping from $ 18,824 at 2 am on Thursday to $ 16,857 by 9 am, according to data from industry site CoinDesk.
Bitcoin has been on the brink of 2020, skyrocketing over 150% in crypto enthusiasts has credited unprecedented financial and fiscal stimulus in response to the Covid-19 crisis, as well as interest from big-name investors like Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller.
The latest fall comes as many predicted that the cryptocurrency would soon reach an all-time high of $ 20,000.
Antoni Trenchev, managing partner and co-founder of Nexo, which bills itself as the world’s largest crypto lender, said it expects bitcoin to rally well into the $ 20,000s and beyond.
“In the long run, I don’t see anything cheating Bitcoin’s irreversible rise higher,” Trenchev said. “That doesn’t mean we won’t have setbacks along the way. Look what happened in March; Bitcoin plummeted 40% in one day during a coronavirus market panic. Falls of 20-30% can and should be expected.”
He added: “Any healthy market needs setbacks and consolidation periods. Already in 2020 we have seen a 160% increase.”
Bitcoin peaked at $ 19,783 in December 2017. After hitting that milestone, the bubble and bitcoin plummeted to $ 3,122 the following year.
It climbed past $ 15,000 on November 5, $ 18,000 on November 19, and $ 19,000 on November 24.
Bitcoin’s market value – calculated by multiplying the total number of bitcoins in circulation by the price – is now $ 315.3 billion, down from $ 355.9 billion on Tuesday, according to CoinDesk.
– Ryan Browne of CCBC contributed to this story.