The total value of all crypto fell sharply this week, losing over $100 billion from last week. Most of the decline occurred over Thursday and Friday, as panic over the economic effects of the coronavirus spread from traditional markets into crypto. Several records were set for various coins this week, such as the highest volume and the biggest downward move. BTC is down about 40% for the week and ETH is down 47%.
Edward Snowden, who famously revealed the extent of the USA’s surveillance systems, tweeted regarding the price of Bitcoin. Referring to this week’s extreme price drop, Snowden said: “This is the first time in a while I’ve felt like buying bitcoin. That drop was too much panic and too little reason.”
MakerDAO, the leading decentralized finance or “defi” project, was hit with a double whammy on Thursday. First, the massive volume on Ethereum’s blockchain as trading activity spiked led to delayed or very expensive transactions, introducing issues with the oracles needed for price information. Secondly, the rapidly-changing ETH price led to serious issues with the DAI stablecoin and loans, both of which depend on Ethereum’s price. Many users were liquidated as a result of this turmoil and a market halt was considered by the MakerDAO team.
Police in Tokyo have arrested two men for purchasing NEM, linked to the major attack on the Coincheck exchange. Over half a billion dollars was lost in the hack, making it the largest exchange failure after Mt. Gox. Blockchain analysis revealed the two men bought the stolen coins with BTC during February and March of 2018.
Before we conclude, this week’s “Bitcoin quick question” is can I buy just part of a Bitcoin?
Yes, you can. Bitcoin can be divided up to 8 decimal places. The smallest unit is called a Satoshi and is worth one hundred millionth of a single bitcoin. While most places won’t sell you only a single Satoshi, it’s definitely possible to buy only a fraction of a Bitcoin for as little as twenty dollars.
This means you don’t need to have a large amount of money to get started with Bitcoin and invest in it. If you want to learn more about how Bitcoin can be divided into smaller units visit the link in the description.
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That’s what’s happened this week in Bitcoin. See you next week.