On the eve of bitcoin's 10th birthday, the world's first cryptocurrency may be about to hit an even more significant milestone. Having fallen by almost $200 over the last 24 hours, bitcoin may be about to see its first year-on-year loss of 2018, marking a point where its stuttering price falls since January can no longer come with the caveat that it is still trading higher than it had been on the same date the year before.
In late October 2017, bitcoin was trading at around $6,000, having seen its value rise by more than $5,000 over the course of the year. 12 months later, bitcoin is trading at just above $6,000, having fallen by more than $10,000 since the start of the year.
If bitcoin remains around its current price of $6,328, or falls even lower, then it will fall below 2017's year-on-year price on 31 October – the 10th anniversary of the publication of a paper describing an "electronic cash system" that would eventually give birth to bitcoin, the blockchain, and an entire cryptocurrency industry.