2018 has so far been a year to forget for cryptocurrencies. In particular for the queen of the sector, which has lost 70% since the highs reached last December, until it stands at around 6 thousand dollars. Even worse was the composite index that summarizes the performance of the 10 main virtual currencies, which collapsed by 80% in the same period (even worse than the -78% recorded by the Nasdaq in 2000, after the internet economy bubble).
That 10% difference is mainly explained by the plunge recorded in recent weeks by Ethereum, the second cryptocurrency by capitalization, which in recent sessions has dropped to 170 dollars, the lowest in 15 months. A real debacle if you consider that just 10 months ago the value had reached a peak of 1.400 dollars.
How do you explain this deluge of sales on the entire sector? Much of it is a reaction to last year's excess of euphoria. In other words, the crypto-bubble has burst and the market has chosen to downsize, also on the back of pressure from the SEC, which in the United States increasingly controls the financial instruments connected directly or indirectly to cryptocurrencies.
The choice of the American Consob is not accidental and indeed according to many it is even late, considering that in the last seven years cyber attacks and market manipulation have cost investors 2,3 billion dollars.
