Update : 1005ET: The carnage across cyrptocurrencies has escalated with Bitcoin back to a $13K handle, Ethereum back below $700, and Bitcoin Cash below $2,600...

Bitcoin is now almost $6,000 off its record high...

For those who are keeping track...

$0000 - $1000: 1789 days

$1000- $2000: 1271 days

$2000- $3000: 23 days

$3000- $4000: 62 days

$4000- $5000: 61 days

$5000- $6000: 8 days

$6000- $7000: 13 days

$7000- $8000: 14 days

$8000- $9000: 9 days

$9000-$10000: 2 days

$10000-$11000: 1 day

$11000-$12000: 6 days

$12000-$13000: 17 hours

$13000-$14000: 4 hours

$14000-$15000: 10 hours

$15000-$16000: 5 hours

$16000-$17000: 2 hours

$17000-$18000: 10 minutes

$18000-$19000: 3 minutes

$19666-$14000: 4 days

ETH and BCH in trouble too...

In fact almost the entire crypto space is collapsing with Ripple the only gainer for now...

There continues to be no obvious catalyst for the run.

Volume is heavy in futures tonight too...

The question is - which happens first - Bitcoin $10,000 or Gold $1,300?

* * *

After an exuberant few days following Coinbase's adoption of Bitcoin Cash, the forked currency has collapsed back below $3,000...

For the 4th night in the last 5, someone has started slamming Bitcoin at around 8pmET, pushing the biggest cryptocurrency back below $15,000 for the first time in two weeks...

Catalysts for the drop are unclear other than systematic selling pressure as Asia opens. There was chatter about the lack of security in South Korean local exchanges, but it is unlikely that is the cause for now.

Since CME launched its futures contract, Bitcoin has been under pressure and renowned market watcher Peter Schiff is pretty clear where he thinks this ends up...

As CoinTelegraph reports, speaking to RT this week, renowned analyst Peter Schiff, credited for predicting the 2008 housing market collapse, issued a foreboding warning to investors buying Bitcoin at current prices.

Even with a shaky week, Bitcoin is hovering around the $15,000 mark, after a two-month bull run that saw the price rise by more than 200 percent.

Schiff says those trying to ride the bubble are too late:

“People who got it years ago, even people who got it at the beginning of the year have the opportunity to cash out and make a lot of money. But people who are buying it at these prices or higher prices are going to lose practically everything.”

The old adage, “buy on the rumor and sell on the news,” seems to be the perfect way to sum up Schiff’s sentiments on the current attitude of green investors trying to make a quick buck out of Bitcoin:

“These currencies are going to trade to zero or pretty close to it when the bubble pops. Right now, the only reason why people are buying Bitcoin is because the price is going up. When it turns around, they are not going to sell it for the same reason."

He also voiced by now common criticism of Bitcoin Core’s transaction functionality, noting the low speed and high cost of transactions on the network:

“There is no value in Bitcoin, you can’t use it as money. It’s too slow, too expensive and too vulnerable.”

Still with gold's recent weakness, we are sure Peter has more than a small ax to grind on this one.