The price of bitcoin tumbled over the weekend and was up to 19.5% lower than the record highs posted by the popular cryptocurrency over the past week.
Bitcoin fell to $ 52,148.98 on Sunday morning after reaching a high of more than $ 64,800 on Wednesday, according to CoinDesk. It last traded just over $ 55,795.
Other cryptocurrencies, including ether and dogecoin, also suffered a setback over the weekend. The ethereal price, the second largest sign after market value, fell to 18% and fell below $ 2,000 on Sunday before recently trading at more than $ 2,150. The token also recently reached a record high and reached $ 2,500 on Thursday.
Meanwhile, dogecoin, which rose more than 400% at one point last week and peaked at 45 cents, fell to 24 cents over the weekend.
What exactly drives the decline is unclear.
An unverified report on Twitter claims that the US Treasury Department may be trying to combat financial institutions against money laundering through cryptocurrency.
A tweet from the account @Fxhedgers referring to the possibility of a repression, citing unnamed sources, went viral on Saturday night.
The U.S. Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.
The cryptocurrencies set a record over the past week amid the excitement surrounding the stock market debut of the cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase, which became the largest cryptocurrency company on Wednesday. The company’s direct listing briefly valued Coinbase at around $ 100 billion (before falling to just over $ 62 billion by the end of the week), boosting the rest of the cryptocurrency industry.
Despite the record prices, some investors are worried that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are experiencing a bubble. The recent rise by dogecoin, which started out as a joke based on the 2013 ‘Doge’ meme in particular, has fueled concerns about a bubble in the cryptocurrency market.