After 2018, we are no strangers to rocky starts to the year for cryptocurrency – but were you expecting the lowest levels of the year to be hit within the first two weeks? Those who suffered in the 2018 crash would be forgiven for feeling uptight at the sense of de-ja-vu this last few days, as the markets plunge. The positive news is that comparatively, the fall is significantly lower than this time last year. Regardless, another $5 million drop in values is not good news for those looking to see some recovery. Bitcoin saw drops down below the all important $3,600 dollar mark on Sunday, and although there has been a slight upturn this morning, there is still a bad taste in the mouth.

Average losses on Sunday ranged between 2 – 5%, with both stable coins and altcoins suffering – notably Ethereum which was one of the biggest losers.

All in all, the total market value is close to 2018’s lowest value, and there are few signs of a recovery. If you were hoping to start the week on positive note, we are sorry to disappoint!

You could of course take the stance of NEO Co-founder Erik Zhang and ignore the noise. As he stated in a recent interview with CNN –  “I don’t care about NEO’s price and market capitalization at all”. It is worth noting that while the price of NEO has dropped by over 95% since the projects all-time high of $189.30 one year ago, buit this does not seem to be deterring the team, whose main interest lies in developing the underlying technology.

On a final note, Japan has gone on the defensive after last week’s reports of it’s changing position on cryptocurrency.

Speaking to Bitcoin.com, an FSA representative said:

“There is no such fact that we are considering approving ETFs which track crypto-assets at present. We are not currently considering approving them.”

Who needs Netflix this spring – if you need a good fix of suspence and drama, the cryptocurrency world has got plenty to offer!