The cryptocurrency market is bleeding, with the prices of the most popular digital currencies plummeting.
Bitcoin , the most popular cryptocurrency, has fallen 12.4% over the period, according to CoinMarketCap , and is trading at $6,426. Other coins have seen even bigger declines: Ethereum is down 20.5%, Ripple is down 13.3%, Bitcoin Cash is down 20.1%, and EOS is down 22.3%. For Ethereum, the second most popular coin, this is the lowest point in the past year.
Overall, the market cap for all cryptocurrencies that have been raised is currently $202.9 billion and is threatening to reach around $190 billion.
There are several possible reasons behind the decline. On Wednesday, Business Insider reported that Goldman Sachs has laid out its plans to launch a crypto trading desk. Goldman Sachs has been one of the major banking institutions to show real interest in Bitcoin, having funded Bitcoin startup Circle in 2015.
While the fear is that organizations are losing interest in cryptocurrency, those involved in digital currency trading seem to be more concerned about the dangers lurking in the shadows of the black market platform Silk Road. Over 111,000,000 bitcoins (worth over $700 million) associated with Silk Road have been identified, which were recently transferred to various online wallets, possibly with the intention of being sold.
While back in April the price of Bitcoin was not that far from where it is today, the price of Ethereum has roughly halved from $592 to its current price of $226. The reason for this is probably the pressure it is facing from numerous startups that were successfully funded through ICOs and are now selling the Ethereum they earned.
In any case, the cryptocurrency market's bull run that began in mid-August has reached a plateau. We can only speculate about its further development.
