The Bitcoin (CRYTPO: BTC) price is in freefall.
One Bitcoin is currently trading for US$32,901 (AU$42,727). That's down 9.4% over the past 24 hours.
It also trims Bitcoin's year-to-date gains down to a fairly meagre 13.8%.
Don't get me wrong. A 13.8% return in under 6 months would be stellar from any blue-chip ASX share. But with the notorious volatility inherent across all cryptocurrencies, some investors may be thinking the risk isn't worth the potential gains.
As Bitcoin's price has crumbled from April's all-time highs of US$64,829, so too has its market cap. This now stands at US$615 billion, down from some US$1.1 trillion at its peak.
Least favourite asset for investment
Bitcoin has been receiving a lot more institutional investor interest this year. But not all professional investors are keen to add it to their portfolios.
eToro's crypto expert Simon Peters noted that May was the worst month on record for Bitcoin's price performance. He added that "caution remains the watchword for bitcoin in particular after a sell-off sparked by a crackdown in China on trading, as well as a bout of profit-taking".
Peters also pointed to a note from Goldman Sachs, indicating the CIOs of various funds are less than enthralled with the world's largest crypto:
Professional investors remain concerned about the near-term outlook. A note from Goldman Sachs said their meetings with 25 chief investment officers of long-only and hedge funds revealed bitcoin as the least favourite asset for investment.
Which isn't to say some investors haven't made a mint trading the digital token. According to Peters, "Asset manager Ruffer has made more than $1 billion in profit from a $600 million Bitcoin investment it made during November 2020."
Ruffer closed out its Bitcoin position in April banking US$1.1 billion in profit.
Most cryptos spiralling lower…but not all
It's not just Bitcoin falling hard today.
The vast majority of the top-100 cryptocurrencies are spiralling lower.
Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) is down 11% over the past 24 hours. And the much-hyped Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) has shed 15%, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
But there is an outlier. The sole crypto in the top 100 (by market cap) to be up more than a fraction of a percent today is Theta Fuel (CRYPTO: TFUEL). Theta is up more than 10% over the past 24 hours.
And it's not just today. Yesterday I singled out Theta as the past week's top performing crypto. A spot it still holds onto today
Over 7 days Theta is up 46%, compared to an 11% loss for Bitcoin at the same time.
Invest with care!
