The price of bitcoin over the last 24 hours has plummeted. On Wednesday morning it was more than $6,200–now it’s at $5,573. This over 10% drop is the lowest price the cryptocurrency has seen in over a year.
Other currencies fell, too. Coindesk reports that, in total, the entire cryptocurrency market lost $24 billion in the past 24 hours.
Bitcoin’s $5,000 value is far below what it was worth only 11 months ago. Last December, it nearly hit $20,000. That didn’t last long, however, as the price has been slumping ever since–albeit with a few encouraging bumps along the way that didn’t last long:
The drop may have had something to do with the upcoming fork of the bitcoin cash cryptocurrency. That blockchain is upgrading its software today, but there’s a division in opinion over which version will become dominant. This uncertainty may have caused hesitation among traders.
Still, bitcoin’s fall is quite large and could indicate further turbulence down the line.
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