Bitcoin falls below $8,000 as investors lose interest
Bitcoin fell briefly below $8,000 on Monday as investors lose interest in cryptocurrencies after enduring a selloff in mainstream technology shares in a sign that risk aversion might be having ripple effects.
The Nasdaq index fell 1.79% on Monday on the heels of disappointing quarterly results from tech darlings Facebook, Intel and Twitter last week.
Gallup and Wells Fargo polled 2,000 US citizens with $10,000 or more invested in stocks, bonds or mutual funds, either within or outside a retirement savings account between 7 May to 14 May 2018 to research the interest of investors in the crypto-currency market.
Bitcoin had been on a rollercoaster ride of late, rising to near $20,000 in late November of 2017 only to crash back down to $6,000 at various points throughout 2018. That volatility in the price had made both governments and investors wary of the market, leading to stricter regulations from governments and the loss of interest from buyers.
The Gallup poll showed 72% of investors who had heard about cryptocurrencies said they had no interest in ever buying one, 26% said they were intrigued by bitcoin but would not buy it any time soon and the remaining 2% had already invested in crypto.
From the survey results it was clear that the reason why there were so few cryptocurrency investors was the increasingly widespread perception that bitcoin was unsafe even though large brokers such as Goldman Sachs were reportedly warming up to the idea of entering the market. Only 0.5% of the people interviewed for the study believed bitcoin was not risky at all, whereas 75% said it was highly risky.
Also, the investors who were more aware of the cryptocurrency market and were intrigued by it were usually young men, with investors holding less than $100,000 in investments (which tend to be younger) more likely to be familiar with the innovation than those with higher levels of financial asset wealth.