Bitcoin crashes below $10,000, half its peak in Dec.
Bitcoin, the world's biggest and best known cryptocurrency, plunged below $10,000 on Wednesday, halving in value from its peak price late last year.
The price of bitcoin fell to as low as $9,500 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange, the lowest since the start of December 2017.
The dive in the value of the world’s dominant digital currency depreciated as concerns grew among investors that regulators could soon clamp down on the volatile cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin had reached a peak of almost $20,000 in December - and indeed crossed over that threshold on some exchanges – but has since been roiled by several large selloffs, according to a report by Reuters.
Other cryptocurrencies plunged as well. Ethereum and Ripple were both down heavily after reports South Korea and China could ban cryptocurrency trading, sparking worries of a wider regulatory crackdown.
Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market value, was down 27 percent since Tuesday, according to website CoinMarketCap. Ripple, the third biggest, has lost 32 percent of its value over the past 24 hours and was quoted at $0.94, down from a high of $3.81 on January 4, Reuters reported.
Reuters further quoted analysts as saying that bitcoin could halve again in value amid the current rout, adding that a possible fall to between the $5,605 and $5,673 area "looks very likely to be very speedy".
With South Korea, Japan and China all making noises about a regulatory swoop, and officials in France and the United States vowing to investigate cryptocurrencies, there are concerns that global coordination on how to regulate them will accelerate, added the report.
Officials are expected to debate the rise of bitcoin at the upcoming G20 summit in Argentina in March.
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