Bitcoin January loss is worst start to year since 2018 'crypto winter'

business-standard.com:

Bitcoin is closing out a rough month, with January declines putting the digital coin on pace for its worst start to a year since the dawn of the 2018 “crypto winter.”

The largest cryptocurrency by market value has notched only about a dozen up days this month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, with the rest of the time mired in a decline. Other digital assets have also suffered, with No. 2 token Ether down roughly 30% since the end of December.

Bitcoin dipped to as low as $33,000 in January from a record of almost $69,000 less than three months ago amid a broader selloff in risk assets on growing conviction that the Federal Reserve will soon raise rates as it ratchets back its ultra-accommodative policy settings. The plunge has hit all corners of the crypto ecosystem, from Bitcoin and memecoins to publicly-listed crypto exchanges and miners.

“Crypto is a very volatile asset class -- and I hope that everyone participating in that market is aware of the volatility potential,” Troy Gayeski, chief market strategist at FS Investments, said by phone. “It’s a much trickier environment than it was six months ago, 12 months ago, 18 months ago where it was ‘green-light go.’ Now it’s ‘yellow-light caution.’”

On Monday, Bitcoin fell as much as 2.9% to trade at around $36,680 before recouping losses. Its monthly decline now stands at more than 18%, the worst start to a year since 2018’s 29% decline and a grim follow-up to December’s 19% slump.

The declines in prices have also translated to lower volume, according to a report from CryptoCompare.

“Macro sentiment around risk assets has been the leading narrative in the markets, with expectations of significant tapering of quantitative easing” following a string of hot