The crypto-currency is 2014’s worst performing investment, down over 57%
In the race to the bottom, the Russian ruble has finally surpassed oil as a worse-performing asset.
Over the year, the ruble has tumbled 46% while WTI, the price measure of North American oil, has fallen 42%. Most likely, each will end the year even lower.
But the claimant to the title of the Worst Performing Asset of the Year is neither oil nor the ruble. Bitcoin, which the public has seemingly forgotten about, has taken that title with a precipitous plunge in value of 57% from $732 to $316.
In comparison, the Argentine peso is down 24% on the year despite the Argentine government defaulting on its debts a few months ago.
For Bitcoin, 2014 was simply not a good year. In fact, the bad market news started in early December, when Bitcoin tumbled from nearly $1200 to just above $500 in a few days after BTC China, China’s largest bitcoin exchange, announced it would no longer accept Chinese yuan deposits. Bitcoin managed to climb back above $900 in early January, but come early February any hope of restoring bitcoin’s value was lost.