[2017-09-02] Bitcoin Drops Below $5,000 as Crypto Markets See $13 Billion Sell-O

[gokayc]

It's the biggest sell-off since mid-July.

At press time, the total value of all publicly traded cryptocurrencies was $166 billion, a figure that was down more than 7 percent from a high of nearly $180 billion last night.

That's when bitcoin, surging on technical improvements and growing investor optimism, topped $5,000 on the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index for the first time.



The decline was similar to what was observed on bitcoin, with average global prices declining from a high of $5,013.91 to a low of $4,619.97, a more than $250 decline.

Overall, it was the largest sell-off in the cryptocurrency markets since July 15, when the total value of the asset class plunged roughly 12 percent from $72 billion to $63 billion. However, that decline was part of a multi-day sell-off that saw prices drop more than 25 percent on what was then concern over bitcoin's technical roadmap.

At press time, market observers seemed split on how to read the market movement.

In remarks to CoinDesk, some stated it might be too early to say the market has peaked given the recent upswell in institutional interest and the finite nature of new cryptocurrency creation.

On the latter point, some went so far to speculate the decline could be a "bear trap," one that quickly opens the door for larger gains.

"Since bitcoin is getting a lot of media attention lately a lot of people are looking for a moment to enter the market," Bram Ceelen, founder of cryptocurrency brokerage AnyCoin, told CoinDesk.

Others pointed to declines in July and May as evidence the market has still retracted, even during its 2017 rally, and that further declines were possible.

https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-drops-5000-crypto-markets-see-13-billion-sell-off/?utm_content=bufferf14d5&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

[BitHodler]

I was already expecting this to happen, and for that reason decided to take profits as soon as the price went over the $4950 mark. I have not yet bought back, but that will be done once it drops a bit further.

Overall, this is exactly what the market needs. It's not really the correction that I expected to happen, but I have enough patience to wait for the market to drop down even more.

Litecoin experienced a proper correction having gone down from $93.45 to $72.34 a hour or so ago. On the other hand, I still have the feeling that Litecoin is somewhat undervalued below the $100 mark.

[CryptoBry]

I was already expecting this to happen, and for that reason decided to take profits as soon as the price went over the $4950 mark. I have not yet bought back, but that will be done once it drops a bit further.

Overall, this is exactly what the market needs. It's not really the correction that I expected to happen, but I have enough patience to wait for the market to drop down even more.

Litecoin experienced a proper correction having gone down from $93.45 to $72.34 a hour or so ago. On the other hand, I still have the feeling that Litecoin is somewhat undervalued below the $100 mark.

It has become a self-fulfilling prophecy then. Lots are expecting Bitcoin to cross the $5000 mark and then there would be a big correction after. Anyway, the most important thing is that Bitcoin has already broken the $5000 barrier so it would be easier to do it the next time. It can be a bear trap.

[BitHodler]

Anyway, the most important thing is that Bitcoin has already broken the $5000 barrier so it would be easier to do it the next time. It can be a bear trap.

China did it, but all major USD nominated exchanges have not made it to the $5000 mark yet. It seems that none of the market movers there have been willing to actually push it over that level for whatever reason.

That being said, everything looks like a pretty normal correction since a lot people (me included) were anticipating on a correction by selling before the market even touches the $5000 mark.

That's exactly the reason I took profits as soon as I noticed that the price went over the $4950 mark. I am not going to wait for the market to hit $5000 since it's just a 1% gap between $4950 and $5000 ~ better safe than sorry.

[Wekkel]

These downswings happen quite regular in the Bitcoin market. Instead of accepting that - at some point - there were more sellers than buyers (or better said, more selling pressure than buying pressure, and thus the prices started declining, 'observers' always seem to have to explain 'why' prices declined. That is an impossible task because these observers cannot look into the heads of all market participants to know their reason to sell, buy (or not to buy).

Thus, the story that this told, is a 'narrative' that is thought the most rational explanation why prices went down. But it by now means have to be the truth.

From my perspective, the current dip is probably a temporary moment of profit taking or pauze (or however you want to call it) without a clear reason to suspect a bear market. In a short article I wrote today, I explain why I do not think we are dealing with market extremes (to the upside) right now. This is also a reason why I do not expect a dip to last long. In the worst case scenario, we go sideways for some time.

[eckmar]

Just a lot of guys with sell orders that needed to be filled. At one time BTC price was rising high. Got preev opened, gone to eat, came back price up by 150$. It's only logical that a lot of guys would be selling

[FansUnite]

I was wondering about the recent decline, I watched it happen in real-time last night, with bitcoin losing hundreds within a few hours (ether going down too).

But, as other posters were saying, it could make sense that selling occurs at a point like $5000 USD. It is a landmark amount and with all the recent increases it makes sense to see some peeling off of profits. I have been up as much as 40% on the crypto that I have bought since the start of June, including all fees and transfer costs. I can understand that others would want to take some profits.

[angaper]

There are no real reasons to suppose that it is time to sell, for most of the reasonings I have heard are based on that superstitious and pseudo-scientific fantasy called "technical analysis." On the contrary, I see the growth potential of bitcoin intact and I am convinced that we will continue to see a strong bullish mood in September, where $ 6,000 will be easily attained.

Remember that when the price reached $ 2,500 for the first time in the middle of the year, there was a strong correction to $ 1,800 that was easily surpassed, and I expect the same scenario this time.

[richardsNY]

Remember that when the price reached $ 2,500 for the first time in the middle of the year, there was a strong correction to $ 1,800 that was easily surpassed, and I expect the same scenario this time.

The correction you are talking about was largely coming from people that were selling in panic due to everything related to the first of August. Current mini correction is just a normal market movement after the massive price increase of the last weeks. We can't just expect the price to keep increasing without people taking profits putting a heavy load of temporary selling pressure on the market. At this point things will get a bit more interesting -- will we see the price go down even further, or will we see an increase towards the $5000 level again.... I go for the latter.

[buwaytress]

Remember that when the price reached $ 2,500 for the first time in the middle of the year, there was a strong correction to $ 1,800 that was easily surpassed, and I expect the same scenario this time.

The correction you are talking about was largely coming from people that were selling in panic due to everything related to the first of August. Current mini correction is just a normal market movement after the massive price increase of the last weeks. We can't just expect the price to keep increasing without people taking profits putting a heavy load of temporary selling pressure on the market. At this point things will get a bit more interesting -- will we see the price go down even further, or will we see an increase towards the $5000 level again.... I go for the latter.

Yeah, I think the summer sell off isn't quite the same as today's. The former took a lot of people by surprise. Remember that people weren't used yet to Bitcoin above the old ATH for a very long time, and it wasn't meant to last. $2,500 was simply too irresistible for a lot of people.

Reaching 3, then 4k, set the expectations for 5k. So a lot of traders would have already made sell orders at 4,900 or 4,950 to take advantage of sustained pushes towards the 5k barrier.

It will definitely reach 5,000. Just a matter of when. My bet's on sooner rather than later (this year).

[Halcyon Days]

Interesting discussion, hopefully, is is just a minor correction and not the repetition of 2014's decline from around $1000 to $250.
Even though Bitcoin is strong, I wonder, if there might be a correction for all the alternative coins, which gained so much value during this year due to the bitcoin hype. 

[uslfd]

Looks like the correction has more life than a mere single day correction based on. However having said that, I think by the end of October BTC will not end in $4XXX. It will more likely be either $6000+ or corrected back down to $3xxx. Reason is, there are more and more actual real money flowing into this market. Hence the recent price gain is genuine. If nothing interrupts the market/ nothing major happens, I believe these funds will just keep flowing into the market. However if there are any major shock like a big regulatory related news hitting the market, then btc will be in trouble and downtrend for quite a bit. So .... let's see!

[hatshepsut93]

The crypto journalists are at it again with phrases like "$13 billion sell-off". Marketcap is a simple multipilication of price by total number of coins, but it in no way means that all Bitcoins in the world can be bought with those money or that if marketcap dropped by $13 billions, then some traders actually sold coins for that sum. Here's what really happened: there are buy and sell orders, and they have certain depth - for example, a total of 300 BTC in sell orders from $4,700 to $5,000 - they all got triggered when someone agreed to bought, so the price moved to $5,000 and traders made for example a total of 200 BTC in buy orders from $5,000 to $4,700 - and then someone started triggering those orders and the price went down. This means that the real amount of USD that moved in and out of Bitcoin is measured in millions of dollars, not billions or dozens of billions. Always look at volumes and depth before claiming that something has billions of value.

[BellaBitBit]

Just a correction, this happens over and over when Bitcoin rises substantially.  There was another sell off of this magnitude when it went from 115 billion to 82 billion market cap in a couple days, this was a couple months ago.  As I am typing this, Bitcoin and other alts are moving back up. This could be the preparation of a run up past 5k by savvy investors.

[monocolor]

Every time there's a collection the press talk it in a negative tone, yet bitcoin just went higher and higher. The bitcoin will hit $8000 by the year end, once november event goes by.

[Wekkel]

The drop from $40,000 to sub $20,000 is gonna be epic