Bitcoin Conversion Value Drops Below $200. More Coin Exchanges Stumble
Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency once heralded as the virtual second coming, has been in a virtual free-fall over the past 12 months. Once valued near $1,000, it is currently valued just below $200 per Bitcoin. On January 14, the value fell to a low of $173 before recovering by this weekend. The news is not good.
However, the Bitcoin phenom is not going anywhere. Internet luminaries like Marc Andreesen who founded Netscape wrote an op-ed piece a little over a year ago for respected newspaper, The New York Times where he shared his thoughts on why Bitcoin is important. The venture capitalist has over $50 million invested in Bitcoin startups through his Andreessen Horowitz VC firm.
Fred Wilson, another person involved with Bitcoin investment via venture capital funds stated on Twitter that “the price decline will certainly have an impact.” He further stated hat it could be beneficial because it could stop people looking at the price too much.
Bitcoin Exchanges Continue To Shut Their Virtual Doors
Bitcoin exchange CEX.io closed down on January 12th because of the continued volatility and recent further price drop which became unsustainable for their Bitcoin mining operations. Maintenance fees are paid out in US dollars so the firm was unable to manage the operation with the price falling too far. The Chief Information Officer confirmed to CoinDesk that if the Bitcoin price rised back up to $320 then their service would return.
Previously the $5 million digital heist of Bitcoins over at BitStamp which discovered that 19,000 BTC were missing from their digital wallets and promptly shut their doors to investigate further. The company has since reopened their service with retooled technology including AWS cloud hosting and most importantly, improved security.
Blockchain Technology
The math and science behind programming code that manages the blockchain that Bitcoin relies upon to work is crucial. Many observers like Scott Rosenberg who co-founded Salon believe that other apps and opportunities will come out of the basic technology that Bitcoin is built upon. So even if the currency doesn't last, the underlying technology could still be used in apps and other software to the benefit of users.
Are you new to Bitcoin?
Our article A beginner's guide to Bitcoin explains how the Bitcoin cryptocurrency works, so go ahead and have a look at it if you're new in the cryptocurrency space.
