At the time of writing (this article was initially conceived in mid-May), the price of bitcoin has taken another freefall. The currency is trading for just over $32,000 per unit, which is its lowest point since last July, and some analysts are wondering if the asset is going to dip further to around $30K or lower.
Bitcoin Stumbles Again!
From the look of things, one can only assume that 2022 is becoming another 2018. The latter year is notorious for many reasons, a big one being that it was a time in which bitcoin and many of its altcoin cousins absolutely bombed. The world’s number one digital currency by market cap shot up to roughly $20,000 per unit in the months leading up to the new year. This was, back then at least, the currency’s all-time high, and many thought the asset was virtually unstoppable.
However, it looks like some of these thoughts may have been a little premature, as just months later, with the start of the new year, the price of bitcoin began a series of dips that ultimately saw the currency trading for around $9,000 (less than half its previous high) just two months after reaching such a pinnacle.
From there, the currency entered the summer months (as we’re about to do) where it hung around $6,000 per unit for most of the period. While there were a couple of sporadic hikes here and there to $8,000 and $9,000 respectively, it appears these levels were way too strong for bitcoin to handle at the time, and it wasn’t long before the asset again fell into the $6,000 range.
Many hardcore traders figured this was where the asset would stay, though they were ultimately proven wrong again as in November of 2018, the currency wound up taking another huge slip. The currency fell to about $3,500, losing roughly 70 percent of its overall value since the currency’s previous hike to $20K.
Will the Currency Ever Recover?
2018 followed a year in which bitcoin exploded in size and scope. What we saw was a year of great success for bitcoin followed by a year of dismal failure. In many ways, we are witnessing a repeat of this in 2021 and 2022. Last year saw the world’s primary digital currency reaching a new height of $68,000. The currency thus put its previous $20K high point in 2017 to shame, and just like in that year, many traders and analysts thought bitcoin was at the top of the financial charts.
Now, 2022 is seeing bitcoin lose much of its value and we are witnessing 2018 all over again. This offers unfortunate evidence that perhaps bitcoin is not at the level of maturity many of us initially thought it was at since volatility is still playing a huge role in the currency’s future.