THE price of bitcoin continued its monthslong slide Thursday, falling another 11 per cent to USD 67,000, its lowest level in 15 months. The original cryptocurrency, pitched as "digital gold," has lost 46 per cent of its value since October 6, when it hit a record high of USD 126,210.50, according to crypto trading platform Coinbase. As of 10:30 am EST Thursday, its price had dipped to USD 67,245. After the election of President Donald Trump in November of 2024, Bitcoin prices chugged higher for the better part of a year, in part due to investors' expectations of a more crypto-friendly administration in Washington.

 

Companies that enable investors to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, as well as the growing number of companies who have made investing in bitcoin their main business focus, have also been hit hard in the recent sell-off. Coinbase Global fell 9.1 per cent and online trading platform Robinhood Markets lost 8.1 per cent. Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms dropped 10 per cent. Strategy, the biggest of the so-called crypto treasury companies that raises money just to buy bitcoin, tumbled 13 per cent. The company, formerly called MicroStrategy, reports on its website holdings of 713,502 bitcoin. With the average purchase prices for those above USD 76,000, it means the company is under water on the investment.

 

Thursday morning its bitcoin holdings were worth about USD 47.8 billion, less than the USD 54.3 billion Strategy says they cost. American Bitcoin, in which Trump’s sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. Hold a stake, fell 6.6 per cent and is now down more than 80 per cent since October 7. Other Trump-related crypto ventures have declined as well. The market value for the World Liberty Financial token, or $WLFI, has fallen to about USD 3.25 billion from above USD 6 billion in mid-September. And the price of a meme coin named for President Donald Trump, $TRUMP, is USD 3.93, a fraction of the USD 45 asking price just before his inauguration in January.