For the first time since 2015, Bitcoin welcomes the New Year with a sharp drop

Sina US Stocks News: According to foreign media reports in the early morning of January 2nd, Beijing time, Bitcoin has had a hard time since the beginning of the new year.

This is the first time the cryptocurrency has started a new year with a big drop since 2015, further exacerbating its decline since it hit an all-time high of $19,511 on December 18.

Data compiled by Bloomberg showed that Bitcoin was trading at $13,150 at 12:58 p.m. New York time on Monday, down 8.1% from Friday. It was trading at $14,156 on Sunday, according to coinmarketcap.com, which tracks daily prices.

Bitcoin started last year much stronger, and has maintained its momentum, eventually setting off a global craze for cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin rose 3.6% to $998 on the first day of 2017, according to coinmarketcap.com. It ended up surging more than 1,300% for the year.

The surge has given rise to a variety of other cryptocurrencies, and also brought Bitcoin to Wall Street in the form of futures contracts. On December 18, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange launched for the first time a derivatives agreement that some traders believed would encourage short positions, and Bitcoin peaked a few hours later.