The Crypto Bubble Burst Is Officially Worse Than The Dot-Com Bust And Things Might Only Get Direr

Welcome to BroBible’s regular roundup of the biggest news in the world of cryptocurrencies. We’ll be providing you with the biggest news and stories concerning Bitcoin and major altcoins to help you keep your finger on the pulse of the crypto market.

Happy Wednesday! Everything is terrible!

Bitcoin is slumping but altcoins are making it look like a fantastic investment in comparison— minus one laughable exception we’ll get to in a second.

Here’s how things are looking around noon today.

• Bitcoin (BTC): $6306.65 (down 10.1% in the past week)
• Ethereum (ETH): $174.25 (down 32.8% in the past week)
• Ripple (XRP): $.2623 (down 14.35% in the past week)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCH): $423.45 (down 25.5% in the past week)
• EOS: $4.84 (down 17.15% in the past week)
• Litecoin (LTC): $49.15 (down 21.85% in the past week)
• Tether (USDT): $1.00 (up .34% in the past week)
• IOTA: $.5257 (down 18.25% in the past week)
• Tron (TRX): $.0176 (down 23.75% in the past week)

The Crypto Bust Is Officially Worse Than The Burst Of The Dot-Com Bubble

It was impossible to deny the parallels between the sudden surge in the price of cryptocurrencies last year and the mania that occurred a couple of decades ago when everyone was trying to get a piece of the dot-com pie.

Despite the best efforts of crypto evangelists, things imploded just like they did around the turn of the millennium and Bloomberg reports that as of today the situation is officially direr than back when N*SYNC was topping the charts:

[T]he MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 10 Index extended its collapse from a January high to 80 percent. The tumble has now surpassed the Nasdaq Composite Index’s 78 percent peak-to-trough decline after the dot-com bubble burst in 2000.

Bitcoin is currently testing a key $6,000 level in a decidedly bear market as other coins and tokens face even greater challenges, so if you’re looking for good news, I regret to inform you that you’ve come to the wrong place.

Dogecoin Is The Only Crypto In The Green And It Looks Like The Joke’s On Us

In 2013, a guy named Billy Markus decided to poke fun at Bitcoin and other cryptos in the form of Dogecoin, a satirical currency that turned out to not be that much of a joke at all.

In 2014, the Dogecoin community came together to raise funds to send the Jamaican bobsled team to the Sochi Olympics and even paid to sponsor what may be my favorite car to ever appear in a NASCAR race.

Now, it looks like we’re in the midst of a Dogecoin resurgence, as the cryptocurrency has risen 160% in value over the past month shortly after users were given the option to trade it on Robinhood.

If you got tipped some Dogecoin as a joke on Reddit a few years ago take solace in knowing you had a better month than basically anyone else in the crypto world.

A Court Rules Cryptocurrencies Can Be Governed By Securities Laws

For many people, the lack of regulation surrounding cryptocurrencies is what made them appealing in the first place, but the tides are slowly shifting as the powers that be start keeping a closer eye on things.

One of the more recent developments occurred on Tuesday when a judge in New York ruled federal prosecutors could move forward on a fraud case concerning two incredibly sketchy ICOs helmed by a man named Maksim Zaslavskiy that allegedly scammed investors out of $300,000.

Zaslavskiy’s lawyers tried to argue securities laws don’t apply to cryptocurrencies but the ruling seems to indicate otherwise:

Dearie rejected that argument, writing on Tuesday that the federal securities law must be interpreted “flexibly.” The judge noted that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which brings civil securities fraud actions, has said that it considers some cryptocurrencies to be securities.

It’s doubtful the ruling will have any impact on major coins but if you happened to launch a fraudulent ICO in the past year you might want to watch your back.

You Might Have Lost Money On Crypto But At Least You Didn’t Lose $500,000

If you bought crypto (along with everyone else in the world) last fall and were part of HODL mafia then I’m assuming your investment probably didn’t work out exactly as you envisioned.

However, if you’re looking to feel a little bit better about yourself, CNN has the story for you.

Sean Russell decided to throw $120,000 into Bitcoin last November despite knowing virtually nothing about crypto and saw his investment skyrocket to $500,000 in a matter of weeks.

However, thanks to a series of unfortunate decisions (including investments in Bitcoin Cash and Ripple), the Englishman saw his portfolio vanish into thin air and lost 96% of his initial investment in the process.

I feel bad for Russell but I’d still like to thank him for making me feel a whole lot better about myself.