The market correction followed the IMF’s report saying that the rapid growth of crypto assets can create new vulnerabilities in the global financial system.
Just when the Bitcoin price looked to be consolidating for the next upside move, it gave an unpleasant surprise on Thursday. Bitcoin lost nearly $400 in a sharp fall slipping its price below $6300. Currently, Bitcoin is trading at $6282 with a market cap of $108 billion, dropping nearly 4.5% in the last 24-hours.
Today’s sharp fall in the Bitcoin prices comes amidst many industry experts claiming the Bitcoin is all set to explode northwards. Just yesterday, Coinspeaker reported the analysis from CNBC’s Ran Neuner with Bitcoin’s highly optimistic predictions. eToro’s senior analyst Mati Greenspan also cited some technical indicators suggesting a big up-move for the cryptocurrency. However, the crypto market has got its own reasons to surprise investors in its own way.
Note that this correction is not just limited to Bitcoin, but rather spread marketwide. A quick look at the coins table shows that all the top-ten cryptocurrencies have plunged anywhere between 9-12%. It shows the severity of the overall market fall with over $16 billion wiped-off from the market. Ethereum (ETH), XRP, and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) all have corrected by more than 10% in today’s market fall.
IMF Flags a Red Signal on Crypto Market
The huge market fall comes soon after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a report issuing warnings about crypto assets. The IMF warns about the growing clout of digital assets and the potential threat it poses to the global financial economy. The IMF report noted:
“Continued rapid growth of crypto assets could create new vulnerabilities in the international financial system.”
IMF in its report also mentioned the fragile crypto infrastructure and the ongoing cybersecurity threats. It said:
“Cybersecurity breaches and cyber attacks on critical financial infrastructure represent an additional source of risk because they could undermine cross-border payment systems and disrupt the flow of goods and services.”
After the unprecedented bull run of 2017, many experts predicted that regulatory agencies would warm to the growing crypto dominance. However, the repeated denial of crypto products like ETFs shows that agencies are not willing at all to bow down. Rather global regulatory agencies have taken some strict measures to monitor the crypto market. Moreover, there is also a lack of global monetary coordination among agencies.
Expert Views
While talking to The Express, Jon Ostler, UK CEO at finder.com said:
“Cryptocurrency is currently a bearish market, with our BTC predictions for end of 2018 decreasing for the third consecutive month in a row.”
Ostler further cited the delay in Bitcoin ETF as the reason behind the current short-performance. “The issue of the pending ETF decision by the US Securities and Exchange Commission is still on our minds, with some citing the decision as the main indicator of short-term performance and anticipating it to affect the market for months to come,” Said Ostler.
Blockbid COO, David Sapper, told express.co.uk:
“I can see Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies being recognised by the SEC or EU Securities Commission in the future. I do think this is a way off and more regulation regarding Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will have to be implemented before we see this.”
While further commenting on BTC’s volatile price fluctuations, Sapper said:
next“It is still too early on for Bitcoin to have properly reached the point of having a stable price. There will continue to be fluctuations until more widespread commercial adoption occurs – as well as further regulation and implementation by financial institutions.”