It's been a year since bitcoin was interesting

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<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Congratulations bitcoin bulls: it was exactly a year ago today – December 17, 2017 – that the price of & nbsp;bitcoin has reached the highest level& nbsp; of $ 20,000 per bitcoin. "data-reactid =" 11 "> Congratulations bitcoin bulls: it was exactly a year ago today – December 17th 2017 – that the price of bitcoin has reached a record level of $ 20,000 per bitcoin.

That was also the last time the bitcoin was really interesting.

As of Monday afternoon, the price of bitcoin was just over $ 3,500, good for a pop of nearly 10% on the day and a decline of about 82% in the last year. Measured from its most recent Saturday minimum, bitcoin prices fell by 84% from the peak reached last December 17.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Back when the prices of bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies stood for the moon, stocks were close to historic highs and ended & nbsp;one of the least volatile years ever recorded. In the end, 2017 was a great time to be invested in the stock market, but it was a very boring period to talk about investments in the stock market. "Data-reactid =" 14 "> Back when the prices of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were going towards the moon, the shares were close to the historical highs and ended one of the least volatile years ever recorded.In the end, 2017 was a big moment to be invested in the stock market, but it was a very boring period to talk about investing in the stock market.

Crypto has filled that void with admiration.

Over the past two years, bitcoin prices have more than doubled, but the decline of the 80% observed in the last year has brought most of the outcry out of space. And with the unbridled stock market rush that captures investors' attention, bitcoin is no longer so interesting. (Source: Yahoo Finance)

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "But now, & nbsp;stocks are shaking& nbsp; and the strategists' drumbeat & nbsp;call the current bear market environment& nbsp; it's growing stronger. Investors are worried about the Federal Reserve, the end of the economic cycle and Trump's trade war with China, among other things. "Data-reactid =" 27 "> But now stocks are shaking and the strategists' drumbeat calls the current environment a bear market is growing stronger. Investors are worried about the Federal Reserve, the end of the economic cycle and Trump's trade war with China, among other things.

Follow the stock market and the financial markets in 2018 is fun. Following the cryptic market it is not.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Throughout the bubble burst of the 2017-18 cryptocurrency, & nbsp;the defenders of space have assumed a certain number of positions& nbsp; to justify why digital resources are here to say, with & nbsp;many simply claiming that prices do not count. "data-reactid =" 29 "> During the bursting of the 2017-18 cryptocurrency bubble, space defenders took a series of positions to justify why digital resources are here to say, with many simply arguing that prices do not matter

<p class = "canvas-text canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "But how & nbsp;the layoffs started to hit& nbsp; the cryptocurrency space is hard to argue that prices are just a cosmetic distraction that true believers can freely ignore. The price of any financial activity is always important – to argue otherwise is simply to deny reality. "Data-reactid =" 30 "> But as layoffs have started to hit the cryptocurrency space, it's hard to argue that prices are just a cosmetic distraction that true believers can ignore freely, the price of any financial activity is always important – arguing otherwise is simply denying reality.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "And as written by Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal on Monday, & nbsp ;the price is the most important part& nbsp; of the bitcoin history. The highest prices for bitcoins and other digital assets motivate miners to create these new assets to continue their work. Lower prices make mining less profitable, potentially stopping the expansion of the network or making the network obsolete. Or as Weisenthal writes, making cryptography nothing but "a clean science project". "Data-reactid =" 31 "> And as written by Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal on Monday, the price is the most important part of the bitcoin story. The highest prices for bitcoins and other digital assets motivate miners to create these new assets to continue their work. Lower prices make mining less profitable, potentially stopping the expansion of the network or making the network obsolete. Or as Weisenthal writes, making the crypt nothing but "a clean science project".

The Bitcoin historians will note that this is only the third worst decline in bitcoin history: in 2011 and 2013, bitcoin dropped more than 90% from peak to trough. But the public craze that accompanied the frenzy of 2017 and the crash of 2018 in the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies certainly makes this the most noteworthy drawdown we have seen in the bitcoin space.

And while we were promised a lot of things during the most manic days of the crypto-currencies frenzy that broke out in mid-2017, the only story that ended up being really interesting was the price.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "At the end of 2017, & nbsp;he wrote& nbsp; that "if 2017 was about price craze with investors expressing regret at having lost this rally, 2018 could be the year when markets begin to understand exactly what all these things are for." "data-reactid =" 34 "> At the end of 2017, we wrote that" if 2017 was about price craze with investors who regretted having lost this rally, 2018 could be the year in which markets begin to understand exactly what all these things are for ".

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Investors are still calculating which exactly cryptocurrencies and the blockchain is really for … It seems like every big company is "exploring"Blockchain technology, but it is not clear what this technology could actually do for their business." Data-reactid = "35"> Investors are still trying to understand exactly what cryptocurrencies are and blockchain. It seems like every big company is "exploring"Blockchain technology, but it is not clear what this technology could actually do for your business.

The whole point of a bank, for example, is to keep a centralized transaction log and keep track of who has money to do what, while the whole point of the blockchain is decentralizing ownership.

But also discussing examples of how blockchain applications may fail or succeed in a large business environment is so 2017. The fall in the price of these assets and the loss of value from space tell you more about the feasibility of these applications than to those of any consultant will.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Bitcoin and cryptocurrency and blockchain should have introduced a & nbsp;new digital revolution. Instead it was just another asset bubble. And it came out a year ago. "Data-reactid =" 38 "> Bitcoin and cryptocurrency and blockchain were supposed to usher in a new digital revolution, but it was just another asset bubble and it popped up a year ago.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = ""data-reactid =" 39 ">

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Myles Udland is a writer of Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MylesUdland"data-reactid =" 40 ">Myles Udland is a writer of Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MylesUdland

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