The price of bitcoin tumbled over the weekend and was down as much as 19.5% from record highs of $ 62,000 posted by the largest cryptocurrency in the past week.
On Sunday, Bitcoin tumbled more than 11%, its biggest 24-hour Decline dropping from about $62,000 to $55,000, its lowest level since the end of March.
Currently, BTC is trading at $57,413 as of 11.00 AM East African Time.
The reason for the plunge has not yet been verified; however, according to analyst, the crypto markets are stumbling amid rumours that the U.S. Treasury Department may take action against financial institutions because of money-laundering concerns.
A tweet from the account Fxhedgers referred to the possibility of a crackdown, citing unnamed sources, went viral on Saturday evening, raising concerns in the crypto markets.
Ether and Dogecoin Follow Bitcoin
Other cryptocurrencies, including ether and dogecoin, also took a hit over the weekend. The price of ether, the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market value, dropped as much as 18% and fell below $2,000 on Sunday before more recently trading at over $2,150. The digital had also recently hit record highs, topping $2,500 on Thursday.
As of press time, Ether is exchanging hands at $ 2,270 as of 11.00 AM East African Time.
Meanwhile, dogecoin, which soared more than 400% at one point last week and hit an all-time high of 45 cents, dropped as low as 24 cents this weekend and is currently trading at $ 0.36
In the past week, cryptocurrencies hit record highs amid the excitement surrounding the stock market debut of cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase, which became the largest cryptocurrency company to go public on Wednesday. The company’s blockbuster direct listing briefly valued Coinbase at about $100 billion before falling to just over $62 billion by the end of the week, boosting the rest of the cryptocurrency industry.
Despite those record prices, some investors have been concerned that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are experiencing a bubble. The recent spike by dogecoin, which started as a joke based on the 2013 “Doge” meme, in particular, has fueled concerns of a bubble in the cryptocurrency market.
