Bitcoin Falls to $10000 on Bitstamp Exchange for First Time Since December

It is the biggest sell-off in bitcoin in at least three years, which peaked at almost $US20,000 back in December, but it did not suffer as badly as many of its cryptocurrency rivals.

The cryptocurrency market has dropped sharply over the past two days, with the value of popular coins including bitcoin and Ethereum dropping by up to 20%.

Charles Hayter, chief executive of CryptoCompare, said that many expected the cryptocurrency market to decline.

However, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said in a separate Tuesday report from Yonhap that shutting down the digital currency exchanges would require approval from the National Assembly. Measures under discussion reportedly include bans on underage investors and anonymous trading accounts.

There are even fears that the government could “target” people who trade large amounts of bitcoin.

More likely, the current round of panic-selling reflects the huge number of new investors that have flooded into the market in recent months.

In other words, Chinese people were cashing in their bitcoin gains to pay for the holiday excesses. By mid-December, it hit an all-time high of nearly $20,000. On Tuesday, news that South Korea is weighing a ban on trading on crypto exchanges, and reports that Chinese authorities were considering a ban on its local investors using foreign bitcoin exchanges, acted as a chilling effect. It has fallen from a record US$19,511 reached December 18, and seen more than US$140 billion shaved off its market value.

Have ethereum, Ripple XRP and other altcoins dipped?

While many would think that this is a major fall from which cryptocurrencies will not recover, this assumption is entirely incorrect because 20 to 30 per cent corrections over the course of 24-48 hours isn’t uncommon. And after Bitcoin’s 50 percent plunge in the past month took it through $10,000 Wednesday, they’re prepping for the worst as key resistance levels approach. The losses this week have caused the digital coin’s market capitalisation to slip to $177bn (£128bn).

The value of bitcoin tumbled on Monday.

Accordingly, many financial insiders have continued to warn against the cryptocurrency “bubble”, amid concerns it will facilitate criminal activities.