I think it is fair to say that January was a month to forget for cryptocurrency traders. Here's why:
At the time of writing the bitcoin (BTC) price is fetching US$10,143.80 according to Coin Market Cap. This is a 1.1% decline since this time yesterday and approximately 28% lower than where it started January at. The world's largest cryptocurrency has been left with a market capitalisation of US$170 billion.
The ethereum (ETH) price has fared a little better over the last 24 hours and climbed 1.7% to US$1,101. This actually means that it put on a gain of almost 47% during January, a rare bright spot in the industry. Ethereum's market capitalisation is now US$107 billion.
The same cannot be said for Ripple (XRP) which has been one of the worst performers this year. The XRP price is down almost 5% since this time yesterday at US$1.13. This extends its year-to-date decline to a sizeable 51% and reduces its market capitalisation to US$43.6 billion.
Bitcoin spin-off bitcoin cash (BCH) is down 2% over the last 24 hours and approximately 42% since the start of January. With each token now fetching US$1,480, bitcoin cash has a market capitalisation of just over US$25 billion.
Cardano (ADA), the world's fifth-largest cryptocurrency, has tumbled almost 7% since this time yesterday to 50.8 U.S. cents. This stretches its 2018 decline to approximately 30% and leaves it with a market capitalisation of US$13.2 billion.
Will February be any better?
That's the million dollar question. I suspect a lot will depend on what steps governments take to regulate the industry.
We have already seen China make a move on crypto miners and South Korea on anonymous trading. I doubt that is that last of it and believe trader sentiment will remain negative until all is known.
In light of this, I think traders would be better off considering the ample opportunities available to them in the share market instead.
