Bitcoin looks to extend January losing streak in 2019

Bitcoin has historically reported significant losses in the first month of the year, with the world’s largest cryptocurrency seeing declines in January for the last four years on the trot and looking like extend that trend in 2019.

There were some positive signs that Bitcoin would buck the trend this year, with the cryptocurrency rallying 8.8% from $3689 at the end of December to hit $4014 on January 6.

But the rally was short-lived and only three days later Bitcoin falling as much as 12% to $3497 on January 13, with the cryptocurrency currently hovering at around $3579 levels.

This significant sell-off seems to have strengthened a bearish sentiment in the market, with many believing that another sell-off is on the cards.

‘Bitcoin continues to struggle and is in the mid-$3k’s. If prices were oversold, we would have bounced by now,’ Cracked Market blog analyst Jani Ziedens said. ‘This lethargic base tells us that demand is still incredibly weak and this selloff still hasn’t found a bottom.’

Bitcoin helps drag rivals lower

The decline of Bitcoin in recent weeks has helped drag rival coins lower too, with Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple all down in January.

In fact, all three cryptocurrencies followed a similar trajectory to Bitcoin, with each seeing slight increases in price at the start of the new year, only to see those gains begin to erode on Thursday last week.

Ethereum fell as much as 23% from $149.45 on Wednesday last week to 114.94 on January 13, with Litecoin and Ripple also sliding 23% and 14% respectively over the same period.

Cryptocurrency trading volumes increase in 2018

Despite the cryptocurrency markets failing to kickstart a recovery at the start of the year, there are some positive signs for the wider market, with crypto trading volumes increasing in 2018, according to a report by research firm Diar, implying that there is still a lot investor activity in the space.

Furthermore, in a recent survey carried out by the US-based banking consultants Cornerstone Advisors, around 8% of American consumers said that they own cryptocurrencies and a further 17% showed interest in buying some at some point in the near future, suggesting that capital could pour into the market should prices improve.