Bitcoin prices fell below $1,200 for the first time in March, on Wednesday. The dent represents the sharpest drop to the bullish rally that began last month wherein the cryptocurrency scaled to new all-time highs for the first time in over three years.
Bitcoin dropped by nearly $100 compared to yesterday’s prices when it struck a low of $1,160 today, losing about 7% in value on the Bitstamp Price Index (BPI).
Having started the day above $1,230, bitcoin peaked to the day’s high of $1,244 around 01:30 UTC. The decline came soon after.
Bitcoin price fell from $1,240 at 02:30 to $1,219 in an hour. The sharpest drop of the day occurred when price slumped from $1,222 at 04:00 to $1,190, losing over $30 in value in a 20-minute trading period. Although price recovered briefly to $1,217 a steady decline resulted in price sinking falling to the low of $1,160 at 07:00.
A resurgence has since followed with bitcoin resurfacing above $1,200 at 08:00 and staying on top of the milestone throughout the day.
At the time of publishing, bitcoin is trading to the dollar at $1,203 on the BPI, with brief respite above $1,225 near midday.
The downturn comes in the lead-up to the much-publicized ETF decision to be taken by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, with the deadline this Friday. One theory is that traders are selling off their bitcoin to avoid losses in the event of a negatory decision by the SEC.
Today’s sharp fall coincides with the ‘big three’ Chinese exchanges extending the month-long bitcoin withdrawal freeze indefinitely. In identical statements, OkCoin, Huobi and BTCC confirmed that bitcoin withdrawals will only be processed after approval by regulatory authorities. There are no details of a time-frame provided.
Bitcoin prices dropped sharply this time a month ago after the exchanges halted withdrawals, the last significant price influencer from China.
Image from Shutterstock.
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