Bitcoin Tumbles 8 Percent Over 24-Hour Period

In a new round of declines for bitcoin, the popular cryptocurrency tumbled 8 percent over a 24-hour period leading up to Friday (December 7) morning. The digital currency was trading at just over $3,375 as of 8:40 a.m. EST, CNBC reported.

A few hours later, as of 11:21 a.m., the cryptocurrency was trading a bit lower at $3,235.57, according to Coindesk. And, beyond bitcoin, other major digital currencies also fell over the same day-long timeframe. Ether, for instance, fell roughly 15 percent, as XRP dropped by about 10 percent. (Ether was trading at $83.19, and XRP at 29 cents per Coindesk as of 11:21 a.m. EST.)

Kapronasia Director Zennon Kapron told CNBC of the move, “The market is in a general bearish trend that doesn’t seem to be letting up driven by what seems to be a general negative sentiment towards crypto. As the market is heavily retail driven, it’s very much at the mercy of group sentiment which causes huge swings.” The executive noted that the trend could carry “well into” next year if there aren’t any positive drivers in the “near future.”

Bitcoin marked the start of the month with another drop in value — that time by 8 percent, according to a prior CNBC report. That came after a 37 percent drop in November, which took about $70 billion off bitcoin’s market value. Only about a year ago, the popular cryptocurrency was on the rise to its peak at $20,000. (In December, it was up 40 percent as a large number of retail investors bought the digital currency.)

At the same time, it was noted in November that 24-hour trading volumes are down 56 percent since the start of the year, and the whole cryptocurrency market has dropped 80 percent. XRP, the second-largest cryptocurrency, fell 5 percent, and Ether fell 8 percent. Part of the reason for the fall was the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) crackdowns, which settled with two crypto firms in November and gave them civil penalties.