More cryptomoney, more problems.Technical glitches, competition, and Wall Street skepticism have walloped the value of bitcoins lately, a rare setback in the digital currency’s otherwise steady rise.The question now is whether the selloff will ultimately prove to be a temporary bout of growing pains or a more significant turning point in bitcoin’s evolution.Bitcoin prices have approximately tripled this year, touching a monthly closing high above $3,000 on June 11.But they’ve since fallen near $2,600, down more than 13 percent from the high, according to the cryptocurrency site CoinDesk.Bitcoin’s woes started last week with a massive headache for traders as the popular bitcoin exchange Coinbase due to heavy volume.The incident highlighted how popular cryptocurrencies have become, with the global market now topping $100 billion.But it also renewed concerns about whether the ecosystem around bitcoin and its peers is mature and stable enough to truly challenge more traditional means of exchange issued by governments.

Coincidentally, the grandaddy of government-issued “fiat” currencies, the U.S.dollar, got a shot in the arm Wednesday when the Federal Reserve’s policy committee raised its key interest-rate target by a quarter percentage-point, to a range of 1 percent to 1.25 percent.The Fed’s move was aimed at fighting inflation, but it will also effectively limit the supply of dollars moving through the global economy in the months ahead.bitcoin legal in romaniaThat tends to support the greenback’s value against rivals, including digital upstarts like bitcoin.bitcoin 2014 amsterdamThe cryptocurrency market is also seeing an influx of new competitors, notably the Ethereum platform.litecoin price 2011Its currency, the ether, is already the cryptocurrency after bitcoin and is generally regarded as more flexible as a tool for building applications.go ethereum wiki

The ether also has taken a hit lately, off about 12 percent after hitting a monthly high over $400 last Monday.But that pullback has been slightly less than bitcoin’s, and the ether’s rally for the year has been much steeper, up more than 40 times its 2016 year-end value.In a note to clients last Monday, Goldman Sachs head of technical strategy Sheba Jafari that a number of signals in the bitcoin market are “looking broadly heavy.” A few days later, Morgan Stanley analysts that’s perhaps even more unthinkable in the freewheeling cryptocurrency market — that more regulation might be needed to help bitcoin and its peers realize their potential as actual transaction tools to conduct commerce.litecoin hash rateFor now, they still function more as playthings for speculative investors.ethereum ether newsAnd they have been selling.bitcoin json data

"Not sure what to expect exactly..."That the sentiment of at least one major bitcoin exchange executive yesterday as Americans took to the polls in what the New York Times would ultimately call a "stunning repudiation" of the political system.Hours later, Donald Trump, the billionaire and former reality TV star, was elected president, but the markets had already responded.ethereum file systemAs reported by CoinDesk, many traders were expecting a Trump upset to boost the bitcoin markets, with some comparing it to a "Brexit" scenario for the global markets.ethereum file systemIn that surprise political turn, the price of bitcoin ranged sharply, trading from a low of $550 to a high of $650 when the final decision was announced.However, last night's trading wasn't exactly the same story retold.Data from wallet provider Blockchain indicates that USD exchange volume reached an annual high during the days preceding the Brexit, though this also coincided with a planned change to bitcoin's reward generation scheme.

By contrast, USD trading was muted in the days preceding the presidential election, and even the bounce many traders were expecting proved smaller than might have been anticipated.Over the past 24 hours, the price of bitcoin rose from $709 to a high of nearly $740, though at press time, the price had declined to $725.Despite this, though, it was still within striking distance of annual highs set in mid-June.At press time, the price of bitcoin was up 67% from the $434-mark in January.Yet, while Trump's victory was unexpected, the resulting boost to bitcoin doesn't appear to have done much to change the view of industry analysts.Needham & Company's Spencer Bogart, whose firm issues periodic projections for the price of bitcoin, told CoinDesk there was unlikely to be a shift its short-term projections.Earlier this year, Bogart forecast bitcoin as likely to rise to a high of $848 on improving fundamentals and progress on its core technology.Still, Bogart said that the bump served to underscore the idea that bitcoin is becoming a safe haven asset, even if he said the evidence isn't entirely there yet.

"It’s another data point that further reinforces the notion that bitcoin rallies in 'risk-off' scenarios such as geopolitical uncertainty.By adding to this track record, the probability increases that bitcoin will continue to do so going forward," Bogart said.Wedbush Securities director of research Gil Luria added that he does not believe bitcoin is yet correlated with other asset classes, including stocks, bonds, currency and real estate."I do not believe there is evidence that bitcoin is counter-cyclical or moves in the opposite direction of other assets, and I am not yet convinced that we should refer to bitcoin as a safe haven asset," he said.Overall, the muted response, analysts said, was likely due to the fact that bitcoin is still broadly perceived as a high-risk investment."Bitcoin has plenty of risks that are unique to the technology, which is why it is best suited for investors that understand those risks," Luria said."I consider a safe-haven asset an asset that has inherent downside protection, which I do not believe bitcoin will have any time soon."

Still, there was a belief that behaviors such as last night's increase on election results could do much to change that perception, cementing bitcoin's use case as a store of value, if not an off-risk asset."With events like today, we're seeing bitcoin perform as a safe haven, risk off asset in times like this," Mark Lamb, CEO of bitcoin exchange Coinfloor, said.Yet, he went on to acknowledge it's unclear exactly how to classify bitcoin as of yet."The fact that bitcoin grew massively in 2013 and is also growing in times of the 'Brexit' and Trump seems to demonstrate that bitcoin is uncorrelated," he said.As mentioned by analysts, it's perhaps the unique qualities as well as the accessibility of the digital currency markets that will perhaps help them become more interesting to mainstream investors."We see these aspects as highly favorable for bitcoin as an investable asset."The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies.