Popular Cryptocurrency Fund Counts the Cost of the Crypto Winter – Will Bitcoin recover?

bitcoin

The year 2018 was a year to forget for digital asset investors especially those who bought bitcoin [BTC] and other cryptocurrencies at their peak prices. These cryptocurrency investors soon began taking on major losses as the cryptocurrency market slumped with little respite. What analysts thought would be a short-lived dip turned out to become the longest period of bitcoin price downtrend in its 10-year history. This losses caused by BTC price slump and the entire crypto market crash affected institutional investors as it did retail investors or HODLers. In bitcoin price news today, one of the most popular crypto Fund has come out with damning numbers that tell the story of the 2018 bitcoin crash. We ask, “Is bitcoin dead?”, and “when will bitcoin recover?”

Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital Crypto Fund Reveal $272.7 Million Loss in 2018 Crypto Crash – Bitcoin News Now

Galaxy Digital Holdings, a popular cryptocurrency investment fund run by Michael Novogratz reportedly lost a total of $272.7 Million in 2018 as a result of the cryptocurrency market crash. The firm which acquired a Canadian publicly traded company last year revealed the losses in documents filed with regional securities regulator Alberta Securities Commission (ASC or CSA) in Canada.

According to the document published on Monday, April 29, on Canada’s SEDAR website, Galaxy Digital lost about $97 million in the fourth quarter of 2018 in addition to losses spread across the year. The previous quarter, the crypto-focused fund reportedly lost $76.7 million exemplifying the impact of the bitcoin crash of 2018.

In its annual highlight, Galaxy Digital lost a total of $101.4 million as a result of selling bitcoin [BTC] and other cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, the devaluation of cryptocurrency the fund held led to another $75.5 million losses.

The firm lost $70.3 million from its bitcoin [BTC] sales and $64.4 million from the sale of ethereum [ETH]. However, these losses were cushioned by $54.3 million gained from the profitable sale of some unspecified cryptocurrencies.

When Will Bitcoin Recover? Bitcoin Price Prediction

The losses Galaxy digital incurred was obviously down to the prolonged downtrend in bitcoin BTC price which led the firm to sell at a loss. Put in perspective, the firm gained a comprehensive income of $1.7 million in December of 2017 alone gaining $1.5 million each on cryptocurrency sale and increased value of cryptocurrency held. In 2018, however, galaxy incurred operational costs amounting to $88.4 million he and net unrealized loss on investments in companies accounted for $8.5 million of the losses.

If bitcoin recovers, Galaxy would benefit from BTC price increase. At the end of last year, the firm held 9,724 bitcoin, 92,545 ETH, 2.4 million EOS and 60,227 XMR valued at $36.4 million, $12.3 million, $6 million, and $2.8 million respectively.

As Smartereum reported, several bitcoin analysts are of the opinion that the cryptocurrency winter—used to describe the bitcoin price crash—has ended. They cited bullish signals from BTC price charts showing similar trends from 2015 that culminated in the all-time highs of 2017. While BTC price has failed to maintain key support at $5,300 some analysts are still optimistic.

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Today – BTC to USD

At the time of writing, converting btc to usd will yield around $5,255 according to data from Coin Market Cap. The negative sentiment around the Bitfinex and Tether investigations did pull BTC price down last week. Bitcoin dominance has increased to 54.8 percent of the entire crypto market while its coin market cap is around 92.9 billion.

The Mike Novogratz Factor

According to the Canadian regulators, Galaxy Digital faces risk due to its reliance on its founder Mike Novogratz who is also the majority stakeholder. The document referred to a “key man risk” that comes to play if Novogratz decides to pursue interests different from other stakeholders.

“Mr. Novogratz’s public profile makes it more likely that GDH LP will attract material regulatory scrutiny, which would be costly and distracting regardless of whether GDH LP has engaged in any unlawful conduct,” the regulators further explained.

 

Riccardo Lopp is a writer specializing in Crypto, ethereum and whole blockchain ecosystem. His background is in economics and statistics.

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