Yahoo Finance Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies Pause after Selloff
Investing.com - The price of digital currency bitcoin along with other major cryptocurrencies was steady on Sunday after a steep selloff on Friday that sent bitcoin below $8000 for the first time since November.
Bitcoin was trading at $8,970 by 04:04 AM ET (09:04 AM GMT) on the Bitfinex exchange.
The recovery in prices came after a 12% fall in the value of bitcoin on Friday, marking a 30% drop since the start of the week as fears over a clampdown by regulators weighed.
Bitcoin and rival cryptocurrencies have been hit by fears over tighter regulation.
In South Korea – where speculation on cryptocurrencies is rife - new measures banning the use of anonymous bank accounts in cryptocurrency trading came into effect last week. The measures are aimed at preventing digital currencies from being used for money laundering and other illegal activities.
On Thursday, Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley pledged a crackdown on the use of cryptocurrencies for illicit purposes, stressing the government does not consider them to be legal tender.
Prices have also been hit by the news that Facebook is banning all adverts for digital currencies.
Ongoing concerns over digital currency tether and its ability to collapse the bitcoin market have also pressured prices lower.
U.S. regulators are investigating whether the spike in the price of bitcoin in 2017 was the result of market manipulation.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been investigating the Bitfinex exchange over its links to digital asset Tether, amid fears that it is being used to artificially inflate bitcoin prices.
Tether is a company that issues a widely traded coin, which its claims is backed by U.S. dollars held in reserve, but has never provided any evidence to confirm this.
On Friday, Nouriel Roubini, the economist credited with predicting the 2008 global financial crisis said bitcoin was “the mother of all bubbles.”
Bitcoin’s recent sharp fall was the beginning of a crash that would see the value of the digital currency plummet “all the way down to zero,” he added.
Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, traded down around 2.4% at $919.90 on the Bitfinex exchange.
The third largest cryptocurrency Ripple was up around 1.6% to $0.92.
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