Bitcoin Is Back In Free Fall And Dropping FastHeres Why – Forbes

Bitcoin has again begun moving lower, following broader financial markets down as investors count the cost of the spreading coronavirus.

The bitcoin price, which had found a temporary floor of just over $5,000 per bitcoin late last week, sunk to lows of $4,787 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange early this morning.

Bitcoin's latest fall comes as the U.S. Federal Reserve, working with the U.K., Japan, the eurozone, Canada, and Switzerland, tried to shore up financial markets with massive stimulusbut many feel the central banks haven't gone far enough and some have warned the bitcoin price could crash even further.

Bitcoin prices had stabilized over the weekend but have now begun sliding again.

The bitcoin price surged higher when the Fed yesterday announced it would cut interest rates to a target range of 0% to 0.25% and said it would begin quantitative easing to pump $700 billion worth of cash directly into the economy.

Bitcoin briefly jumped to almost $6,000 per bitcoin before falling back almost immediatelylosing almost 10% over the last 24-hour trading period.

Elsewhere on crypto markets, other major digital tokens fell alongside bitcoin with the likes of ethereum, Ripple's XRP, litecoin and bitcoin cash all losing between 5% and 12% over the same period.

"Crypto-asset markets again seem to be mirroring the actions of the traditional markets," said Simon Peters, analyst and bitcoin expert at brokerage eToro.

"However, fear is arguably a more dominant emotion than greed at the moment, because even with this stimulus, investors are still very worried about global economies grinding to a halt due to COVID-19."

U.S. equity futures and global stocks tumbled after the Fed made its historic move, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures each dropping to their out-of-hours trading limits of about 5% in out-of-hours trading.

"There can be no denying the Feds commitment to action but its dramatic move will initially stoke further debate as to whether the monetary medicine will work, on the economy or markets or both," said Russ Mould, investment director at stock broker AJ Bell.

Many senior figures in the bitcoin and cryptocurrency community have argued the Fed's bond-buying and interest rate cuts highlight bitcoin's superiority to traditional markets.

"The Fed just cut rates to zero and entered into QE again. Bitcoin was built for this moment," said Dan Held, U.S.-based bitcoin and crypto exchange Kraken's head of businesses development, via Twitter.

"Bitcoin is a hedge to this," cofounder of the U.S.-based Gemini bitcoin and crypto exchange, Tyler Winklevoss, said via Twitter.

The bitcoin price failed to be supported by the latest central bank measures to prop up the economy. ... [+]

"Bitcoin doesnt have a 'limit down' or 'circuit breakers' because it is a real market with a real clearing price," bitcoin and cryptocurrency expert and cofounder of the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute, Pierre Rochard, tweeted.

"Stocks and bonds are not real markets, they are Potemkin villages, their prices are highly manipulated and political."

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Bitcoin Is Back In Free Fall And Dropping FastHeres Why - Forbes