But to understand the dynamic that led to this year’s depressing year for crypto, we actually should start a few years before 2018. In bitcoin’s early days, Mt. Gox was the go-to service for handling transactions. Then, in 2014, it halted transactions and slowly copped to a crypto-hack to the tune of $473 million, the biggest hack of its kind at the time, and it gave many people pause. But it was still early enough for people to believe that the blockchain system was still getting all the technical kinks out.
When the hard fork arrived–and participants had to choose which path to take–the entire cryptocurrency market dropped. This is very likely what caused bitcoin to drop from the $6,000 range to around the $3,000-$4,000 range. Which brings us to today, with the cryptocurrency bottoming out at less than 80% of what it was a year ago.

Although cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are virtual currencies, they are treated as an asset for capital gains tax purposes, and “ordinary” investors who purchase Bitcoin as an investment will experience a capital gain or loss when they exchange it for traditional currency, products, or services.
It is also the case that not all of Binance services are available in every country. One such country, while perhaps surprising, is the U.K. As of mid-2021, as the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) ruled that the company’s U.K. arm is unable to conduct regulated activity, it has had a knock-on effect for U.K. users.