Sentiment is getting mighty gloomy!
Indeed, not just for bitcoin but for the stock market as well. I'm reading a whole bunch of bearish sentiment whilst browsing the world wide webbers lately. I'm not sure if this is all due to political uncertainty or if the economy is actually in trouble.
As far as bitcoin goes, I've come to expect the unexpected and learned that pretty much anything can happen as far as the price goes. Once upon a time I thought that if bitcoin hit $10k that the USD would be worthless and the global economy would be in crisis--and then bitcoin did hit that price and kept climbing and I was wrong about the USD and the economy.
Since very few people really use bitcoin in commerce, it's main function is essentially speculation. Not a store of value, not a safe-haven asset, not a currency to buy things with, but an almost pure speculative asset. Thus, the price can go any which way the wind blows, and that wind depends on investor sentiment, news, and rumor. I've not read any news that was so discouraging that it would account for the drop we've seen, so I'm assuming that a lot of investors who bought bitcoin below $3000 are taking their profit off the table. I'm sure some weak-handed individuals are getting frustrated and/or anxious and are selling at a loss. But as far as bitcoin hitting triple digits at some point in 2019....I'm leaning toward
no. But I'm not 100% confident it's not going to fall that much; it certainly could.
That ETF decision being made in February should be interesting. I have a feeling that whichever way it goes, the price of bitcoin is going to move. I never thought it was a huge deal either way or that having a bitcoin ETF was critical, but that doesn't mean other investors agree with me. Can't wait to see the outcome of that.