Bitcoin Crashes on US Crackdown Reports

Bitcoin has been experiencing significant intraday drops for the past several days, with the biggest drop since February occurring on Sunday, April 18, days after the cryptocurrency hit its record highs.

On Sunday, Bitcoin fell by nearly $8,000 and was trading 12% lower around 12 p.m. in London. Its day high was $61,293, and the drop brought it down to $54,900.

The drop happened at the same time the US Treasury reported it would start addressing financial institutions for money laundering done with cryptocurrencies.

The crash has set a new record in liquidations, with the result of more than a million positions being eradicated. According to Bybt, 10 billion in positions got terminated.

Other cryptocurrencies have also shed value. The second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, fell by 17% but has since bounced back to $2,544. Litecoin tumbled down by 24% to $252 but rallied on Thursday, April 22, reaching $281.

Bitcoin prices have been fluctuating over the last few months. Last Friday, it fell by 4% after the Central Bank of Turkey banned cryptocurrency as the accepted payment method. The bank’s spokesperson said that the reason behind this move is a lack of “supervision mechanisms” and “central authority regulation” for cryptocurrencies. The ban will become effective on April 30, 2021.

In 2020, many financial institutions and investors embraced Bitcoin and other digital assets, making its prices oscillate. For the first time, the market value of all Bitcoin in circulation got to $1 trillion at the beginning of 2021. This happened after an unprecedented rise of more than 800%.

Bitcoin got a boost when PayPal allowed its customers to store the cryptocurrency in their digital wallets. Tesla and Mastercard accepting it as means of payment has also played a role.

Last Wednesday, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase became the first crypto-based trading platform to list on the Nasdaq composite.