Cryptocurrency, bitcoin, has for the first time since November 24th of last year, dropped below $8000. According to Bloomberg"s consolidated pricing, the cryptocurrency has experienced a 12% drop in the last 24 hours.
However, rival cryptocurrencies such as Ether, Litecoin, and Ripple have experienced even worse drops in excess of 18%. This might indicate that cryptocurrencies as a whole are experiencing issues collectively as opposed to being individually problematic.
Bitcoin has already had a tough January, with regulators in China taking a pretty hard line against exchanges and restricting certain executive"s movements to within the country. While South Korea is looking into how they will crackdown on the use of cryptocurrencies for illicit uses; this has already lead to one scare that they were about to be banned.
Some experts believe that the combined weight of these regulatory pressures from a number of governments, the decision to ban the advertising of cryptocurrencies on Facebook, and a recent 400 million dollar heist in Japan have all contributed to the dwindling prices.
It seems, all of these activities and events are leading investors to feel uneasy; ultimately giving the emergent and established cryptocurrencies a very rough start to 2018.