Which Factors Influenced Early Bitcoin Trading?

 

Which Factors Influenced Early Bitcoin Trading?

During Bitcoin’s early days, liquidity was thin and there were very few investors in cryptocurrency markets. This state of affairs translated to wide price swings when investors booked profits or when an adverse industry development, such as a ban on cryptocurrency exchanges, was reported. The rise and fall of cryptocurrency exchanges, which controlled considerable stashes of Bitcoin, also influenced Bitcoin's price trajectory.

Events at Mt. Gox, one of the world’s first crypto exchanges, especially contributed to mercurial changes in Bitcoin's price in 2014. For example, the price tumbled from $850 to $580, a decline of 32%, after the exchange claimed to have lost 850,000 Bitcoins in a hack and filed for bankruptcy in February 2014. Even earlier, in December 2013, rumors of poor management and lax security practices at Mt. Gox had caused a steep drop of 29% in its price.

The other important factor affecting Bitcoin's price in its early days was traction with mainstream online retailers: its price crossed the $1,000 threshold in January 2014 after online retailer Overstock announced that it would begin accepting Bitcoin for purchases