Digital currencies were in free fall Wednesday, with most major coins in the red by more than 10%.
Bitcoin, the world’s biggest digital currency, fell through $8,000 late Tuesday and the slide has not abated. Bitcoin tumbled to a multiweek low of $7,442.92. Bounces have been limited, with a single coin last worth $7,528.89, down 7.1% from late Tuesday Eastern U.S. levels on the Kraken exchange.
The collapse in cryptocurrencies has seen the total value of all coins fall to $326 billion, down some $50 billion in just 72 hours, according to Coinmarketcap.[1]
Bitcoin bull Tom Lee of Fundstart Global Advisors is holding firm, telling CNBC[2] that institutional investors are just waiting for clarification of regulation before dipping their toes in the water.
Lee told CNBC that his price target for the No. 1 digital currency remains at $25,000.
Read: Crypto crackdown: New Jersey orders 3 firms to stop offering unregistered securities[3]
It’s just a trend, and the trend is lower
Bitcoin enthusiasts looking for the next support line might be better off tracking current resistance levels, according to one analyst, who says we are still in a trend, and it’s not higher.
“Last week’s $9k support has turned into this week’s $8k support. And thus far it is giving every indication that $7k will become next week’s support. I hope you see the trend here,” wrote Jani Ziedins in a blog post[4].
“It takes most bubbles between six and 24 months to finish bursting. If bitcoin is like most bubbles, that means the worst is still ahead of us and we should expect lower lows over the next few months.”
Read: Opinion: This is all it would take for bitcoin to become a worthless cryptocurrency[5]
Altcoins shattered
Altcoins, or digital currencies other than bitcoin, are showing hefty losses early Wednesday.
Ether ETHUSD, -10.45%[6] has lost 10.6% to $586.00, Litecoin LTCUSD, -7.19%[7] is down 8.2% at $119.10 and Ripple’s XRP coin XRPUSD, -7.60%[8] is down 10%, last trading at 59 cents.
Bitcoin Cash BCHUSD, -10.30%[9] is the biggest loser, currently down 12%, trading below $1,000 at $991.30. Bitcoin Cash reached a low of...