Bitcoin falls below USD 5,000 for first time since Oct 2017

In the wake of volatility in the cryptocurrency market, bitcoin on Monday slipped below USD 5,000 for the first time since October 2017. According to Bloomberg Data, the world's most popular virtual currency losing about 10 per cent of its value from Friday evening to stand at USD 4,958.36 at 1635 GMT. However, it rebounded slightly to trade at USD 5,065 at 1710 GMT.

Notably, the crypto market started witnessing rout on Wednesday, hitting widely traded currencies such as Ethereum and Ripple.

Other major cryptocurrencies ethereum and XRP dropped 13 and 5 percent respectively, said a CNBC report, adding that Bitcoin is now down more than 30 percent since last Thanksgiving, when it gained household-name status and became a common topic around dinner tables.

Last week on Wednesday, Bitcoin opened trading at USD 6,326 and has since seen its market capitalisation fall to less than USD 100 million for the first time in over a year.

On December 18, 2017, Bitcoin had recorded all-time high of USD 19,511.

Other major cryptocurrencies have reportedly fared even worse than bitcoin this year. XRP, the second largest by market capitalization, fell 5 percent on Monday, while ether dropped more than 13 percent, according to data from CoinMarketCap.com. 

In the past week, roughly $40 billion has been wiped off the entire cryptocurrency market capitalization, which was around $172 billion Monday, CNBC reported.

Analysts reportedly attributed bitcoin’s continued sell-off to technical levels and stop orders in the market kicking in after bitcoin fell below $6,000.