Bitcoin kicks off second half of the year with a 12 percent rally
After a sluggish start to the year, bitcoin started the month of July with a 12 percent rebound off last week’s lows. The cryptocurrency rose 4 percent Monday to a high of $6,661.76 as of 2:30 p.m. ET, according to data from CoinDesk. Last week, bitcoin skidded to its lowest level since November, under $6,000, which traders attributed to CME futures contracts expiring and overall lackluster interest from new buyers. The world’s largest and first cryptocurrency has struggled from that lack of enthusiasm, and prices have dropped 52 percent since January, according to CoinDesk. Still, bitcoin is up 145 percent since last July and saw roller coaster trading for the remainder of last year. The digital currency rose more than 1,300 percent to almost $20,000 in 2017, pushed higher by a wave of retail investors.
Bitcoin's one-week performance
The fanatical interest has also waned for other cryptocurrencies. Ethereum is down 40 percent this year, while XRP has dropped about 80 percent. Litecoin has fallen 64 percent, while bitcoin cash is down 70 percent in the same time frame. The entire cryptocurrency market has shed 57 percent of its value after starting January with a $608 billion market capitalization, according to CoinMarketCap.com. After bitcoin’s epic rise, thousands of other cryptocurrencies known as "alt-coins" popped up in a fundraising method known initial coin offerings, or ICO. In that process, a company issues a new, often cheap coin for investors to buy in return for use in the company’s product. In many cases these coins were scams, a joke, or based on an unfinished product.
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