*By Jacqueline Corba*
Bitcoin plummeted this week, falling below the $6,000 mark. The major cryptocurrencies are facing a steep decline in trading volume this summer, a far cry from the action in December when Bitcoin hit an all time [high of $19,783.] (http://fortune.com/2017/12/17/bitcoin-record-high-short-of-20000/)
Harbor Peak Senior Advisor Paul Johnson says #Fomo is gone, and [institutional investors remain on the sidelines.] (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/business/dealbook/fund-managers-bitcoin.html) These two factors, Johnson said, are driving the drop in demand.
"Until you solve the custody problem big institutions can't play," said Johnson. "Ultimately if it's going to be an exchange protocol of currency you have to have transactional demand."
Inconvertable paper money, known as fiat, is insured. But cryptocurrency is not, so if someone loses their Bitcoin there's no hope for recovery. That's the biggest hurdle keeping institutional investment away.
When Bitcoin fell below the $6,000 mark over the weekend, Ethereum also plummeted down to $434. Litecoin has traded below $100 for two straight weeks.
"When Bitcoin price goes down no one is buying the lesser stuff," derivatives trader Tone Vays said Thursday on Cheddar's show The CryptoCraze. "When Bitcoin goes up people feel richer so they are able to gamble more on these alternatives, and when Bitcoin goes down you have a lot less net worth so people are less likely to gamble."
Johnson agrees with the trend, but offers a different view.
"Almost all cryptos are priced to bitcoin because that's the most prevalent exchange medium, and not fiat," said Johnson. "So when Bitcoin goes down, almost everything else should go down almost by definition."
But, what goes down will eventually go back up, argues Vays who remains bullish on Bitcoin.
"I do see Bitcoin as being that one and only public Blockchain in the future," said Vays.
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/bitcoins-ripple-effect-facebooks-change-of-heart)
CES 2024 starts this week in Las Vegas. It's set to feature swaths of the latest advances and gadgets across personal tech, transportation, health care, sustainability and more. Here's a list of the coolest announcements so far.
Astronauts will have to wait until next year before flying to the moon and another few years before landing on it. NASA on Tuesday announced the latest round of delays in its Artemis moon-landing program.
The Biden administration has enacted a new labor rule that aims to prevent the misclassification of workers as independent contractors. The labor department rule going into effect Tuesday replaces a scrapped Trump-era standard that lowered the bar for classifying employees as contractors
The KC-46 was to be the ideal candidate for a fixed-price development program. Instead, it has cost Boeing billions, and made industry wary of such deals.
Dave Long, CEO and Co-Founder of Orangetheory Fitness joins Cheddar to chat trends in the industry for 2024. He updates us on the company's plans to expand and what the state of the economy has meant for business.
One of the world's largest renewable energy developers will be getting hundreds of wind turbines from General Electric spinoff GE Vernova as part of a record equipment order and long-term service deal.
A moon landing attempt by a private US company appears doomed because of a fuel leak on the newly launched spacecraft. Astrobotic Technology managed to orient the lander toward the sun Monday so its solar panel could capture sunlight and charge its onboard battery.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has announced that 100,000 businesses have signed up for a new database that collects ownership information intended to help unmask shell company owners. Yellen says the database will send the message that “the United States is not a haven for dirty money.”
