Bitcoin’s Disastrous Price Drop Slows

It was something of a make-or-break for bitcoin, but the problem was that this particular make-or-break turned more into a break than a make.

Recent events in the bitcoin realm have sent what may have been the ultimate in mobile payments technology into a tailspin, one from which it only recently recovered even in part.

Recently, bitcoin was looking at a potential legitimacy it could have only dreamed of just a few short years ago: inclusion in an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that would have improved its liquidity and its transparency.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, meanwhile, denied bitcoin’s admission into the ETF ranks, citing “unregulated markets” as one major reason. That sent bitcoin on a price tailspin, going from its recent high of $1,350 to a new level of $944.

The Winklevoss twins, who had been largely behind the move to get on an ETF, noted that efforts to get bitcoin listed would carry on unabated. Some pointed to some issues in the various “blocks” bitcoin trades in, which suggested that competing cryptocurrencies like ether or the like would be stepping into bitcoin’s place instead. Indeed, reports note that several traders are selling bitcoin to buy ether.

However, a look at the recent figures for bitcoin suggest that this temporary loss was well on its way back; the current price of bitcoin as of this writing was $1,108.98, suggesting that it may not get back to the previous pre-ETF reversal heights, but that it could see some impressive gains to come.

It could be that investors saw an opportunity to buy low—or at least, comparatively low; a lot of us would love twenty minutes with a computer in 2010 again to buy bitcoin when it was selling for 0.8 cents per—and attempt to sell high once more; a loss that pronounced could well have been followed up by at least a fairly substantial dead cat bounce.

Or it could be that bitcoin’s basic value as an investment property really doesn’t depend on the SEC’s pronouncements any more than King Canute’s orders impacted the tide.

Whether it’s ether, bitcoin, or some other currency that comes through—might dogecoin make a recurrence?—the cryptocurrency field should make for some interesting new conclusions in the months ahead as potentially the most mobile payment system since cash comes into its own.