Bitcoin has Now Sunk to a New Low for the Year

Cryptocurrency bitcoin may have had a hot year last year, but 2018 is not repeating those gains.

The digital currency fell to a brand new low for the year, reaching under $4,100 this week. This is the lowest price the stock has hit since September of last year. In the last week Bitcoin has dropped around 30% alone as it fell as low as $4,076.59 on Tuesday.

“Markets around the world are fragile, and panic and sentiment are playing a disproportionate role right now,” Fundstrat’s Tom Lee remarked. “Does this mean bitcoin is broken? No. The use case is still there, but in the short term, panics are panics.”

According to Lee, the SEC enforcement against several cryptocurrency projects last week may be the reason for the drop. It was last Friday that the SEC announced its first civil penalties against cryptocurrency founders.

“Enthusiasts may have looked at bitcoin’s ability to hold above $6,000 as a sign of a market bottoming, but the warning signs were there each time it failed to make a new high on a rebound—most notably in March, May, July and even September,” wrote Craig Erlam, a senior market analyst at Oanda.

“It’s always difficult to say where the market could stabilize again in such a wild market, but $3,000 looks an interesting level. This time last year, the sky was the limit for bitcoin and all the altcoins that piggybacked a ride, this year the ground below is looking very unsteady,” he also wrote.