Bitcoin Keeps Falling As Investors Bet Against It

Bitcoin, the world’s best-known cryptocurrency, continued its downward slide on Tuesday (Dec. 11), reaching a new low, according to a report by MarketWatch.

Tuesday morning saw one bitcoin trading at $3,333.60, which is down 2.1 percent since end of day Monday. If the ubiquitous digital currency continues its slide to below $3,220, that would be its lowest level since Sept. 17, 2017, when it dropped below $3,000.

Traders are seemingly avoiding the currency, and the number of people betting against it continue to increase, according to analysis by DailyFX.

“Retail trader data shows 70.1 percent of traders are net-long, with the ratio of traders long to short at 2.35 to one. The percentage of traders net-long is now its lowest since Nov. 28, when bitcoin traded near $4,200.66,” wrote Nancy Pakbaz, an analyst at DailyFX. “The number of traders net-long is 1.6 percent lower than yesterday and 2.7 percent lower from last week, while the number of traders net-short is 14.0 percent higher than yesterday and 21.4 percent higher from last week.”

Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency on tilt. Altcoins are also struggling. Ether is down 3.3 percent at $86.15 a share, Litecoin is down 3.6 percent to $23.33, XRP is down 0.3 percent at 39 cents and Bitcoin Cash is down 5.5 percent at $95.70.

This puts the total value of all cryptocurrencies at under $110 billion.

Earlier this year, Bloomberg cited an article by the Bank of International Settlements that said bitcoin will never become a mainstream currency because it has a “range of shortcomings” that will stop it from meeting expectations behind its surge last year.

Among the complaints: Bitcoin isn’t stable enough, it takes too much electricity to mine and it can be manipulated and suffer fraud. Also, the idea of decentralization is a flaw and not a strength, the bank said – and as it continues to grow, it could potentially hurt everything from smartphones to servers.

“The associated communication volumes could bring the internet to a halt,” the report said, according to Bloomberg. “Put in the simplest terms, the quest for decentralized trust has quickly become an environmental disaster.”