After hitting $ 68,992 in November 2021, Bitcoin is now down to $ 42,000, at times approaching the $ 40,000 mark.
Overall, cryptocurrencies are in free fall, with their market capitalization shrinking by $ 300 billion in one week. The bearish wave is linked on the one hand to the expected decisions of the Fed to hike rates. The long period of easy money is said to have fueled the rise of cryptocurrencies.
Behind the Fed’s arbitrations, there are also the consequences of the Chinese decision to ban bitcoin mining activities (May 2021) and the political unrest in Kazakhstan, a country where minors have fallen back, which is believed to be responsible for the misrepresentation of the queen of cryptocurrencies. Neighboring China, Kazakhstan has pursued a very pro Bitcoin policy attracting many miners, which some analysts say is the cause of the current electricity shortage in the largest country in Central Asia.
According to a Cambridge University indicator, Kazakhstan provided up to 18% of the hashrate (“hash rate”), making it the second largest producer of bitcoin after the United States.
But the demonstrators against the rise in gas amid protest against the regime of current President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (photo), successor to Nursultan Nazarbayev, who left power by resigning in March 2019, after 35 years of reign, are came to disturb previously competitive cryptocurrency farms.
Head of state Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Friday authorized security forces to “shoot to kill” to quell any rebellion and, with Russian backing, ruled out negotiating with protesters. Something to worry about Bitcoin miners who are withdrawing en masse to Russia and the USA.
Bitcoin’s extreme volatility is fueling the orthodox people who argue that it is not a currency. From May to August, the crypto invented by Satoshi Nakamoto lost up to 50% of its value before starting a spectacular rise linked to the law of supply and demand alone. From around $ 59,000 in early May, bitcoin had fallen below 30,000 by July 21, before rising again to an all-time high in early November of nearly $ 69,000.
