Bitcoin and the wider cryptocurrency market has been suffering through a year-long bear market that was branded “crypto winter” late last year for its debilitating effect on the industry.
The bitcoin price has been falling steadily since it hit an all-time high of almost $20,000 in December 2017, dropping by some 80% over the last 13 months.
Now, the chief executive of one blockchain company, Civic, is warning that that crypto winter could go “nuclear” if the bitcoin price falls much further.
Many had hoped bitcoin’s crypto winter could begin to thaw in 2019, but so far the bitcoin price has remained frigid. Getty
“If we break below $3,000 for bitcoin, crypto winter will become crypto nuclear winter,” Vinny Lingham, the CEO of digital identity software company Civic said via Twitter.
The bitcoin price has been trading around the $3,500 mark over the last month, falling to lows of $3,322 this week, according to prices from the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange.
Lingham’s warning follows worrying reports that bitcoin could be headed for further pain before the crypto winter ends.
The GTI VERA Convergence Divergence Technical Indicator shows bitcoin has now entered a new selling trend for the first time since mid-November. Analysis shows the last time the technical indicator sent a sell signal bitcoin dropped sharply, from around $6,300 per coin to $3,100, in just two weeks.
Some $400 billion in value has been wiped from the cryptocurrency market over the past 12 months as adoption stalls and banks put closely-watched plans to wade into bitcoin and cryptocurrencies on hold.
Bitcoin’s epic 2017 bull run was largely put down to expectations institutional investment and big bank support for bitcoin would soon arrive. As 2018 dragged on and that investment failed to appear many investors and traders got cold feet, bailing out of their bitcoin and cryptocurrency positions.
The bitcoin price has fallen steadily over the last 12 months, with traders desperately looking for a floor.CoinDesk
Elsewhere, bitcoin bulls have been celebrating the news that Fidelity Investments, which in October last year announced it was planning to offer a range of crypto products designed for large investors like hedge funds, is aiming to launch its bitcoin custody service in March, it was first reported by financial newswire Bloomberg.
“We are currently serving a select set of eligible clients as we continue to build our initial solutions,” Fidelity said in a statement. “Over the next several months, we will thoughtfully engage with and prioritize prospective clients based on needs, jurisdiction and other factors.”
As Fidelity, a Boston-based mutual-fund giant, advances its bitcoin and cryptocurrency plans it could help ease bitcoin sectors fears that the crypto winter bear market might never thaw.