In the face of their first big test since popularization, crypto-currencies are not faring well. Jemima Kelly reports of bitcoin for FT’s Alphaville (abridged):
For a brief moment there, it really did feel like the good old days. Bitcoin shot up from about $5,200 to about $5,900 just after the Fed’s announcement. This was the beginning of something special, wasn’t it?!
Alas, no. This bouncing cat, it turned out, was lifeless.
For those fleeting moments after the Fed announcement bitcoin could thrive; could be free; could resume on its slow but unstoppable trajectory toward the moon. But as soon as Asian markets opened, there was only one direction for bitcoin: groundwards.
Bitcoin has now crashed by more than 10 per cent in the last 24 hours, settling below $5,000 to trade at around $4,600 at pixel time while wider stock markets sell off. That takes its losses since mid-February to about 55 per cent. Ouch.
And as always, where bitcoin goes, other cryptos follow — often even more rapidly.
Bitcoin is an interesting concept, but it’s no gold. Bitcoin is more of an asset than a currency. And now people around the world are realizing why, when it comes to your emergency cash, it’s probably a better option to choose dollars over bitcoin.
There are valuable pieces of infrastructure built into Blockchain, bitcoin’s settlement system, but money should be a store of value.
Learn more about bitcoin here:
