Nearly a year ago, bitcoin reached its highest ever price as it surged to over $US124,000 in value.
It was a stunning rise, given many thought its time had come and gone when it soared and then fell in and around 2022.
Several factors are leading to Bitcoin’s fall from grace. AAP
However, it has now plummeted by more than half, falling by 19 per cent in the last month alone, according to tracking website CoinMarketCap.
The market cap or total dollar value for cryptocurrencies overall has also fallen rapidly this year, losing nearly $500 billion.
It has been a stark fall, especially given how US President Donald Trump pledged to support the crypto industry, and as parts of the technology sector are climbing.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX was recently publicly traded for the first time, and other AI companies could soon follow. Matt Rourke
However, the rise in artificial intelligence could be a key reason behind the cryptocurrency’s sudden fall from grace.
Elon Musk, who recently became the world’s first trillionaire, listed his SpaceX company on the stock market.
The company is expanding its growth and exploration into AI, looking to build huge data centres and to outdo other rivals in the sector.
The move came as other AI companies, such as OpenAI and Anthropic, look to do the same, which could see investors flee bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and move towards AI.
As some of the biggest companies in the world, including Meta, continue to move towards using more AI in their operations, it will only become more enticing to investors, and seen as more risk-free than bitcoin, which is more volatile.
Bitcoin’s value is also falling because cryptocurrency is being traded less in exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
An ETF is an investment fund you can invest in, where your money and the money of other investors are used to buy stakes in a diverse suite of stocks.
ETFs are moving away from bitcoin. iStock
Essentially, ETF stocks centred around bitcoin are becoming less popular, meaning they are making less money.
For example, when bitcoin was at its peak last year, its inflow – money going into bitcoin ETFs – was at $3.23 billion.
However, it is now experiencing an outflow, meaning more money is leaving the ETFs than is coming in.
The outflow for Bitcoin ETFs currently stands at $1.81 billion.
Some financial experts have commented they believe this trend could continue.
“People don’t use it to make serious trades, they don’t use it to buy their dinner and pay at the supermarket,” Jeremy Grantham, founder of investment firm GMO, told US network CNBC, hinting that as financial pressures grow around the world, investors are less likely to trust bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as a whole.
Interest rates are rising across the world, including in the US and Australia, while the Middle East war means oil prices remain high.
Should these trends continue, it will continue to spell bad news for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.