Bitcoin, the world’s largest digital currency, fell by more than 15% on Monday, its lowest level in almost three months. This comes amid various concerns, ranging from a global regulatory crackdown, to British and American banks banning the use of credit cards for purchasing the digital currency.
On the popular exchange Bitstamp, Bitcoin dropped to $6.853 in early afternoon trading. This means that the price of the coin dropped to less than half of the December high of $20,000. Bitcoin has been continuously declining in the last 8 trading sessions.
The famous digital currency, which has risen by more than 1300% last year, has lost about half of its value so far in 2018, as more governments, central banks and major banks around the world plan to restrict the use of credit cards for its acquisition. Last week, Bitcoin suffered its worst weekly performance since 2013.
Senior foreign exchange analysts expect further declines in the price of the cryptocurrency, predicting that it might even reach $5,000. Other digital currencies also suffered declines due to Bitcoin’s huge drop, with Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency, dropping by almost 19% to $703.40. Ripple, the third largest currency in terms of trading, also dropped by 14.1%, trading at 71 cents.
The British bank Lloyds banking group has announced on Sunday that it is restricting its customers from using credit cards for the purchase of Bitcoin, joining US bank giants such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup, which announced a similar ban, on concerns that lenders could suffer due to its volatility. On Monday, India said it is planning to take steps to make cryptocurrencies illegal under its own payment system, and to regulate their circulation.
Analysts and currency market experts have said that digital currencies have fallen dangerously since mid-December, and the continued negative news flow has dragged them even further downside.
The digital currency sector attracted further attention after news of scams, including nearly 58 billion yen stolen in the form of cryptocurrencies from the Tokyo based exchange Coincheck about two weeks ago.
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