Bitcoin kicks off December with an 8% drop
Bitcoin is kicking off the last month of 2018 with another downward drop.
After ending November deeply in the red - a 36% drop -, the world's largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 8% at the beginning of the week to a low of $3,790.96, according to data from CoinDesk. That drop marks the biggest monthly loss of the year so far.
At this time last year, Bitcoin was beginning its climb to almost $20,000 and ended last December up 40%. It entered its hot streak just after Thanksgiving last year, surging in price largely because retail investors were buying in.
Bitcoin is now down 73% since the beginning of January. Twenty-four-hour trading volumes are down 56% since Jan. 1, while the entire cryptocurrency market capitalization has fallen 80%.
"It's been a horrible bear market in tokens," Galaxy Digital Holdings founder Michael Novogratz said during a conference call recapping his company's third-quarter results.
Other leading digital currencies extended their slide. Ether declined about 2% to $112, bringing its monthly loss to 43%. XRP slumped 4.5% to 36 cents, pushing its monthly loss to 21 percent.
"Part of the sell-off is because, I think, the SEC got tough on a few fraudulent ICOs," Novogratz said. "People got very nervous."
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