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The month of January was a brutal one for the cryptocurrency world. February didn't start off any better.
Today is the first day of February and the market looks like it could collapse at any minute. Bitcoin is down below $9,000 for the first time since around Thanksgiving. The current average price of Bitcoin is $8,900.
Things are not any better for Litecoin or Ethereum. Litecoin is hoving around the $140 range while Ethereum fell below $1,000 despite being in the green to start the day for United States trading.
A lot of people have been asking what is going on to make the market drop the way it is. People have also been asking advise on what to do to stop the losses from mounting up.
Personally, I decided to turn all my crypto into USD for now. It's easier on the emotions to ride this out without absorbing anymore loss. At this point I will just wait until things start moving up again to make the losses up.
As far as what is causing the market to drop the way it has could be linked to a number of things. The main focus in America right now is on the Bitconnect lawsuits. India has their own situation going on as well as Russia and Korea that are affecting the market as well.
Coinbase still has not provided any other methods to withdraw USD since taking PayPal out. The only way to get your money out of Coinbase right now is if you have an account with one of their approved banks. If you think it's hard getting your identity verified wait until your ready to cash out and you don't have a bank account. Makes you feel like you are being robbed.
This Bitconnect lawsuit is hurting things as well. When people that are interested in something but not sure the last thing they want to hear is something being called a "Ponzi Scheme". When people hear that it turns heads away instead of dead presidents into Bitcoins.
This lawsuit isn't getting any better either. If anything it is continuing to grow. There are four lawsuits that have been filed now against Bitconnect and a number of YouTube marketers.
As well as lawsuits these guys are having death threats posted about them. Other YouTubers have even gone as far as posting direct personal information on where to find another YouTube marketer involved in Botconnect. Hope these ass clown realize that if anything happens they can be brought up on criminal charges.
The news out of India is questionable. It has a lot to do with misinterpretation of new regulations by the mainstream media once again. One thing for sure, do not ever use the mainstream media as a source for Bitcoin or any other alt coin. Mainstream media thinks that Satoshi Nakamoto is some guy in Japan.
The news out of Korea also has to do with regulations but in a good way. There exchanges have even been added back to Coin Market Cap averaging. The one thing that did come out is that their was $600 million worth of illegal trades made after the new regulations were made. Doubt that really has anything to do in the fall in the market though.
This fall is much more than any news coming out of one country. There are all kinds of views out there about why the market is in the shape it's in. My honest opinion is that it has to do with a little of all the fud as well as people just losing interest.
When Bitcoin was lower there was money to be made. That is what drew people to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in the first place to make it spike the way it did during the holidays. And I speak heavily on Bitcoin because that's what new buyers cared to buy. Bitcoin was the cryptocurrency that was easiest to explain when we were having our family gatherings getting people to sign up for that measly $10 Coinbase offers for referrals.
Now that the buzz has wore off and the price is falling the way it is, people are not trying to buy cryptocurrency. Without new buyers the market will continue to crumble.
There will always be smart money. People who bought at the top have to lose money, those are the kind of people who came in for profits only without knowing the technology. Same people that now are doubting bitcoin will go to zero. They have to lose, so others make money, it is natural selection.
Trying to pick up some alt coins that I can just collect. Coins like Doge that will always be there but will never really be overvalued because of the never ending supply. Also looking at picking up alt coins that can be used instead of trading for value when things go up.