[2017-02-13] Mint: Bitcoin is starting to behave like a grown-up market

Bitcoin is starting to behave like a grown-up market

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/NQNi3T2rYxQyANnc0UaWCL/Bitcoin-is-starting-to-behave-like-a-grownup-market.html

Bitcoin is showing signs of becoming a serious asset class.

Last week’s price swings hardly back up that assertion. The cryptocurrency dropped 7.8% on Thursday after news that the People’s Bank of China threatened to shut exchanges that violate money-laundering rules. The announcement also prompted some of the biggest websites operating bitcoin in the country to halt withdrawals, limiting them to converting the digital coin to yuan and depositing it in local banks.

For all the volatility, though, there are indications that bitcoin is acting more grown up. Go back to December 2013, when the PBOC intervened after the cryptocurrency reached a record high of $1,137. It then dropped 51.4% in a week, only to bounce back about 70% in the next two days and fall below $600 in another week. Bitcoin then settled into a slow descent to $183 by January 2015.

The latest swings followed a similar pattern. As soon as bitcoin breached $1,000, the Chinese authorities got involved and the price plunged. Last week, once again, that level was pierced, and once more the central bank entered the fray. On Monday, the price was little changed at $1,003.

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