Bitcoin's rise was meteoric this week. And its decline has been just as rapid.
In the easy-come, easy-go world of cryptocurrency, where a feeding frenzy over BTC pushed its price to nearly $US14,000 on Wednesday – its highest level since January 2018. The world’s number one digital asset then reversed course in a matter of minutes after a prominent cryptocurrency exchange reported an outage. The retreat accelerated earlier today and put the coin's price back to nearly the same level as just five days ago.
The jump in prices brought back memories of the crypto bubble that burst at the end of 2017, when bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies -- beset by regulatory setbacks and fraud-related issues -- fell from grace. Bitcoin's price, for instance, languished around $US3600 just six months ago, down from almost US20,500 in December 2017.
CNBC explains the recent plunge.
Cryptocurrency bulls were heartened this year after numerous Wall Street mainstays showed increased interest and wider acceptance of cryptocurrencies and their underlying blockchain technology, helping to push prices higher. Things turned parabolic earlier this month when Facebook unveiled plans for its own digital currency called Libra – many proponents cited the move as long-sought validation of the potential digital assets have to drastically alter the global financial system.
But Thursday's reversal prompted one of bitcoin's biggest proponents, Mike Novogratz, to lament on not having taken more money off the table before the coin lost nearly all its gains.
While bitcoin’s price has witnessed a double-digit correction in the last 36 hours, the cryptocurrency is still on track to end in the green for the fifth consecutive month.
With the monthly close just two days away and technical studies reporting bullish conditions, BTC is likely to end June on a positive note.
An Irish-based cryptocurrency exchange has vanished with millions of Euro in users’ cash in a suspected international scam.
Dublin Live has learned Bitsane, which operated an online location to deal in bitcoin, XRP and other cryptocurrencies, disappeared last week.
More than 100 people have lost between €5,000 and €132,000.
