Bitcoin (BTC/USD) has just broken to its lowest price since April 14, falling to $214 on Bitstamp. It had recovered into the mid-$230s after last week’s sharp drop to $220, and had spent much of the past 6 hours challenging this low. Once broken, bitcoin promptly shed another 3%, sending it clear of another low set in May. With the latest line of defense broken, additional losses are likely, as has been the trend during the most recent support breaches. The $200 mark, a reminder of the dark trading days in early January, is once again within striking distance. Join the iFX EXPO Asia and discover your gateway to the Asian Markets This time around, there is no flash crash to blame, although data coming out of Bitfinex again points to some irregular behavior. Technical selling, coupled with waning confidence in Bitcoin’s scalability, are more likely causes. If Time is Money, Why Don’t Funds Move Fast Enough for Traders?Go to article >> Seasonal factors may also be at play. August was one of the most volatile periods for cryptocurrencies in 2014. Also worth noting is the ongoing carnage in the global stock and commodity markets, fueled by fears over China’s pace of growth. China’s stock market fell the most since prior to the 2008-09 financial crisis. London’s FTSE index extended a losing streak not seen since 2003. North American indices are set to open sharply lower, officially bringing them into correction territory. Dow Jones futures off by over 600 points. The price of bitcoin does not always correlate with the global stock markets, but under extreme conditions, investors may be anxious to shed their most risky assets. Litecoin (LTC/BTC) briefly fell below $3 for the first time since June, hitting $2.89 on BTC-e. The losses outpaced those of bitcoin, another sign of volatile times. The LTC/BTC rate fell to 0.014.
The price of Bitcoin fell yesterday after Bitfinex closed its order book, citing issues with its post-trade processing. The Hong Kong-based exchange, which witnessed a 'flash crash' just last week, halted trading for a seven-hour period this morning. The Bitfinex price fell a further 3.8% when it reopened. Meanwhile, according to Bitcoinity data, the exchange managed 22,400 trades today, down from 81,500 this time last week. However, the ongoing debate over the 'block size' that should be used may also have contributed to the fall; a Bitcoin trader said "Brittle markets as evidenced by Bitfinex's downtime today, coupled with overhang from the block size debate, mean a lot of people don't want to be the last ones to be able to sell."