Bitcoin Price Falls to New 2018 Low
The price of bitcoin slid below $6,000 on Friday, hitting a new low for 2018.
![BTC and USD](https://www.coindesk.com/resizer/UjsypPBwx1PyMvMqP-b97emznuY=/567x378/filters:quality(80):format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/coindesk/GDXB5RUSUNGI3EPIOCYE4Z7AHU.jpg)
The price of bitcoin slid below $6,000 on Friday, hitting a new low for 2018.
CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) fell to $5,938.18 at 21:51 UTC, surpassing the prior low of $5,947, which occurred on February 6.
![coindesk-bpi-chart-56-2](https://www.coindesk.com/resizer/Qjyz_GeFwmsmckzol4rF93rAPHY=/560x280/filters:quality(80):format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/coindesk/VJLZOGW2WBD7RH3KK5WUUTG3DE.png)
As of press time, that figure had risen above that low, with the price of bitcoin averaging $5,977.02, BPI data indicates. All told, the price of bitcoin has declined more than $700 since the start of the day's trading.
The cryptocurrency's market capitalization has also dipped, sliding to $102 billion – its lowest of the year – according to the BPI.
As analysis previously suggested, market bears may be back in force following the recent push above $6,700. CoinDesk's Omkar Godbole wrote earlier Friday that earlier technical charts showed the potential for a drop below $6,000.