Bitcoin soared this year as it gained more general acceptance, but the sharp fall in prices this weekend appears to have been caused by an unconfirmed Twitter rumor that the US Treasury was planning to curb money laundering schemes involving cryptocurrencies to strike. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
The rapid takeover of Bitcoin is the latest indication that the crypto market remains very volatile.
Last week, it appears that crypto enthusiasm peaked when the trading platform Coinbase was published at a valuation of $ 86 billion, followed by a wild 500% march in Dogecoin – an asset that in 2013 as a joke was created. Supporters of Cryptocurrency have for years insisted bitcoin, ethereum and other digital currencies could revolutionize the world of finance, and with the success of Coinbase’s Wall Street debut on Wednesday, fans finally got their moment.
Tesla has started accepting bitcoin payments for its cars and now keeps a portion of the digital currency on its balance sheet. Payment processors including PayPal (PYPL), Mastercard (MA) and Visa (V) try to streamline crypto payments on their networks. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs will soon offer its private wealth management clients to invest in bitcoin and other digital currencies, and Morgan Stanley has announced that it will offer its wealthy clients access to bitcoin funds.
CNN’s Julia Horowitz contributed to this report.