Bitcoin Dips Below $5,000 For The First Time In 13 Months

2018 is a rough year for cryptocurrencies as the values of different digital currencies are falling below the levels set by 2017.

On Monday, Bitcoin’s U.S. Dollar value plunged below the $5,000 mark for the first time in 13 months, falling to $4,754.

Market analysts speculate that the dip is caused due to penalties imposed on two cryptocurrency startups Airfox and Paragon by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The startups were penalized after they organized token sales without registering cryptocurrencies as securities offerings.

August marked a period of stable trading as the value of Bitcoin swung between $6,000 and $7,000 and other cryptocurrencies were hit by low volatility. During this period many investors who took a keen interest in investing in cryptocurrencies previously became less active.

Almost two weeks ago, the average market value of crypto assets was valued at $220 billion, and the Bitcoin community decided to upgrade Bitcoin’s code, commonly known as “Hard Fork.”

On Monday, the aggregate market value was recorded as $161 billion indicating a decline of 26% in a period of two weeks.

Not only Bitcoin was hit by the descending value; other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash also registered the fall of 15.2% and 13.1% respectively in the last 24 hours. Ripple’s XRP stood relatively firm amidst the falling values and recorded a decline of 4.5% in the last 24 hours.