Bitcoin drops to a five-week low below $8,000

Bitcoin has tumbled to a five-week low of below $8,000 as it continues to be battered by negative news.

At the time of writing, bitcoin's price was down 4.51 per cent at $7,827.21 a coin, according to Coindesk's aggregate index. This was around $2,000 below bitcoin's price at the start of the week.

Yesterday, Google announced it would crack down on cryptocurrency and initial coin offering (ICO) advertisements, or as it called them "unregulated or speculative financial products". It followed a move by Facebook in January to do the same.

Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at FXTM, said yet another advertising ban had "eroded investor appetite" towards bitcoin.

He added that Google's move was followed by the International Monetary Fund calling for a global crackdown on cryptocurrencies.

"The outlook for Bitcoin is looking increasingly gloomy," Otunuga said.

"Focusing purely on the technical picture, bitcoin is bearish on the daily charts with $10,000 acting a solid psychological resistance level. Sustained weakness below $8,000 could open a path back towards $7,000 and $6,000, respectively."

However, just over half of current crypto investors still appear to be unfazed, a recent survey found. Over the next year, 56 per cent of crypto investors plan to buy more, compared with 31 per cent who plan to retain or reduce their exposure, according to the research by Citigate Dewe Rogerson.

Bitcoin's price has shed about $12,000 from its December high of close to $20,000.

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