Bitcoin’s price remains volatile, and other digital currencies such as ether also plummeted over the weekend. Various cryptocurrencies came under renewed pressure on May 23, 2021. After the rates of the digital currencies had stabilized somewhat on May 22 after the rate crash in the days before, they recently fell again.
Bitcoin, the best-known and largest digital currency in terms of market share, costs around $ 35,000 on May 23 on the Bitstamp trading platform, almost nine percent less than the day before. Other digital currencies such as ether also sagged.
On May 19, 2021, Bitcoin briefly fell to $ 30,000, but was able to recover somewhat in the days after. With a level of around $ 37,000 on the evening of May 21, Bitcoin lost around a quarter of its value over the course of the week. Since the record high of just under $ 65,000 in mid-April 2021, it has fallen by almost half.
Despite the heavy losses in recent weeks, Bitcoin still costs almost four times as much as a year ago. The massive fluctuations show the dilemma of the market for digital currencies: it promises high profits with immensely high risks.
China’s decision could have an impact on courses
Experts cited news from China as an important reason for the recent price slide: The government reiterated an earlier announcement to crack down on the production of cryptocurrencies. Mining consumes enormous amounts of electricity to produce currencies.
Previously, Tesla boss and crypto advocate Elon Musk had already caused the market for crypto currencies to be agitated several times. Musk seemed to be suggesting that the electric car manufacturer Tesla could sell its Bitcoin holdings. Musk quickly denied it, but the price movements in Bitcoin were enormous.
Another stress factor came from the USA last week. On May 20, 2021, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it was considering reporting crypto transactions over $ 10,000 for tax compliance purposes. If the project is implemented, it would be a blow to the anonymity of transactions, which is so valued by crypto fans.