Experts believe Bitcoin’s sharp decline is part of a broader global climate marked by recession fears, inflation, rising interest rates and the cost of living.
For them, these factors have discouraged investors from investing in risky assets such as cryptocurrencies. Many consider crypto too high a risk to invest in.
The collapse of much lesser-known but significant coins has contributed to the low level of confidence in the market as a whole.
This is bad for Bitcoin, because the more people sell, the less Bitcoin is worth, so the ongoing decline has a knock-on effect on others forcing them to sell because they see its value fall.
Bitcoin’s problems became even more complicated after Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and crypto lender Celsius paused withdrawals.
To make the market what it once was, people who still have Bitcoin must hold on to it, and others must start buying Bitcoin again.
“The price is only and purely whatever people are prepared to buy it from you for. That’s when it gets scary for people because, it enough people head for the exit, there’s no floor. There’s nothing to stop it trading at $10,000 tomorrow if enough people give up or are forced to sell,” FT markets editor Katie Martin said.