Bitcoin: What happened and what's ahead
The trouble for the cryptocurrency began when the China Banking Association warned about risks associated with digital currencies.
Bitcoin tanks, dipping below $36K
Voyager Digital CEO & Co-Founder Steve Ehrlich on bitcoin plunging below $36K, hitting its lowest level since January.
Wednesday was a rough day for Bitcoin investors as the cryptocurrency plunged by as much as 30% from the prior day to a low of $30,201 by late afternoon.
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Early Thursday, Bitcoin flirted with the $40,000 level, trading down 0.76% at $39,792 per Bitcoin, according to Coindesk.
It fell as low as $30,066 on Wednesday. Keep in mind: Last month's high was $64,829.
Source: Coindesk
Coinbase, the largest publicly traded crypto exchange, was briefly knocked offline due to the surge. Other crypto-related exchange-traded funds were also under pressure.
The trouble for the cryptocurrency began overnight in China after that country's Banking Association warned member banks of the risks associated with digital currencies. The decline narrowed to below 10% in the afternoon, but Bitcoin had still lost about $70 billion in market value in 24 hours.
One headline after another that has impacted Bitcoin.
Last week, Tesla announced it would not accept the digital currency as payment for cars, a reversal from an earlier announcement. The reason given was the potential environmental damage that can result from Bitcoin mining.
Earlier this week Tesla CEO Elon Musk clarified that the company had not sold any Bitcoin.
BARSTOOL'S PORTNOY SAYS HE ‘WISHES’ HE COULD MANIPULATE THE CRYPTO MARKET LIKE ELON MUSK
On Wednesday, Barstool Sports founder and CEO David Portnoy told Fox Business' "Varney and Co." that he "wishes" he could manipulate the cryptocurrency market like Musk.
"I wish I could do it to the degree that Elon does it," Portnoy told host Stuart Varney.
"He [Musk] goes back and forth. I don’t do that," Portnoy said. "I wish I had his power."
Also applying pressure has been talk in Washington of regulating digital currencies. Gary Gensler, who took over last month as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has said that cryptocurrency markets would benefit from more oversight to protect investors.
BITCOIN IS 'MOST-CROWDED TRADE': BIG-MONEY MANAGERS
Cryptocurrencies have a volatile reputation. Big-money managers say too many investors have piled into bitcoin, according to a Bank of America survey.
A net 43% of respondents say long bitcoin is the "most-crowded trade" with 75% believing the cryptocurrency is a "bubble."
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Charlotte, North Carolina-based BofA surveyed 194 participants with $592 billion in assets under management May 7-13
The Associated Press contributed to this report.