Coming after a surge in value to almost $20,000 per coin less than two months ago, Bitcoin, fell below $10,000 on both the Coinbase and Bittrex exchanges for the first time since early December.
According to the price index run by the news site Coindesk ,The value of one bitcoin fell to $9,958 (£7,222) though it made a slight recovery.
That makes up a slump of nearly 50% since it peaked close to $19,800 five weeks ago.
However, Bitcoin isn’t the only crypto-currency to suffer a dip as other cryptocurrencies Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash have also experienced steep falls over the past day.
There has been concern among some experts that a bubble had been forming in the market as casual investors piled into an asset they did not fully understand.
The crash seems not unconnected to the looming regulations from Germany, stricter laws in South Korea, and an increasing involvement by the SEC.
In particular, South Korea has suggested that it might soon take action.
“The government stance is that it needs to regulate crypto-currency investment as it is a largely speculative investment,” its finance minister Kim Dong-yeon said in a radio interview on Tuesday.
“The shutdown of virtual currency exchanges is still one of the options that the government has.”
Investors may also have been agitated by Bitconnect’s announcement that it was closing down its lending and exchange platform on Tuesday.
The business had centred on its own digital token – the Bitconnect Coin – which crashed in value following the announcement, despite the firm insisting it would still be supported.
Bitconnect lamented it had faced “continuous bad press” – including claims it had been running a Ponzi scheme – and had received cease-and-desist letters from two US watchdogs.
Bittrex lists Bitcoin’s 24-hour low at $9,450 while Coinbase shows $9,969.01 around 5:33pm ET. On both exchanges, Bitcoin is now hovering just above those figures. Coinbase has previously shown a willingness to halt trading during slumps. It remains to be seen if speculators will be frozen out this time around.
