BITCOIN went below $50,000 yesterday as the cryptocurrency’s slump continues.
Trading showed signs of life yesterday with a determined step up towards $51k, City AM reports.
But the cryptocurrency then slid back by more than 6 percent, to below $50,000 (£36,000) a bitcoin.
Despite Bitcoin’s woes, newcomer Ethereum hit a record high last week thanks to a “perfect storm”.
It bucked market trends to reach above $2,600 on Thursday – the first time in its history – after trading below $200 only a year ago.
The gains have pushed Ethereum’s market cap above $300 billion, nearly one third that of Bitcoin’s.
This comes as Safemoon has been predicted to overtake Dogecoin as one of the most heavily invested cryptocurrencies in the world – although both lost value over the weekend.
Read our cyptocurrency live blog below for the very latest updates…
-
WHAT IS POOCOIN?
PooCoin launched on March 8, 2021.
Little is known about the cryptocurrency and whether it is legitimate, meaning the risks to your investments are extremely high.
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, told The Sun: “There are now thousands of cryptocurrencies and tokens in circulation with the names becoming weirder by the day.
“[PooCoin] is the latest to be pushed out, and traders would be wise to hold their noses and keep their distance.
“The latest coins to be dropped into the crypto wild west slot machine may appear to be a joke, but could be no laughing matter for traders who dabble in products they don’t fully understand with money they can’t afford to lose.”
-
EXPLAINED: HOW DOES BITCOIN WORK?
The value of Bitcoin, like all currencies, is determined by how much people are willing to exchange it for.
To process Bitcoin transactions, a procedure called “mining” must take place, which involves a computer solving a difficult mathematical problem with a 64-digit solution.
For each problem solved, one block of Bitcoin is processed. In addition, the miner is rewarded with new Bitcoin.
To compensate for the growing power of computer chips, the difficulty of the puzzles is adjusted to ensure a steady stream of new Bitcoins are produced each day.
There are currently about 16 million in existence.
-
CHINA ‘TO UNVEIL DIGITAL CURRENCY’
China looks set to unveil its own digital currency.
Trials have been running since last year for Digital Currency Electronic Payment – a system controlled by the central bank.
But the DCEP is not like other cryptocurrencies.
Experts actually say it is the antithesis of the world’s biggest digital currency Bitcoin, ABC reports.
This is because it is increased control and regulation rather than the opposite.
