Bitcoin fell below $4,000 on Wednesday with negative comments from major business leaders about the cryptocurrency and the threat of a regulatory crackdown, unnerving investors.
The digital currency fell as low as $3,907.26 on Wednesday, before recovering slightly to trade around the $4,050 mark, according to data from industry website CoinDesk. Bitcoin began was see-sawing in early trade.
At its lowest point on Wednesday, bitcoin was over $1,000 off the all-time high of 5,013.91 hit on September 2. Bitcoin's total market capitalization or value has fallen around $15.5 billion in this time from $82.28 billion on September 2 to $66.74 billion on Wednesday, according to Coinmarketcap data.
Investors have been jittery in the past few days mainly due to numerous media reports suggesting that Chinese authorities are looking to shut down some bitcoin exchanges. These are platforms where bitcoin is traded.
Another report by news outlet Caixin earlier this month said Chinese authorities were looking to ban projects that looked to raise money through cryptocurrencies. These so-called initial coin offerings (ICOs) have exploded in recent months.
It's not just Chinese regulators taking a closer look at bitcoin. On Wednesday, India's central bank said it had been looking into cryptocurrencies as legal tender. Sudarshan Sen, an executive director at the Reserve Bank of India however, said the body was "not comfortable" with non-fiat cryptocurrencies, in comments reported by Reuters.
Business leaders have also been pouring cold water on the cryptocurrency. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon called the cryptocurrency a "fraud" on Tuesday.
"It's just not a real thing, eventually it will be closed," Dimon said at the Delivering Alpha conference presented by CNBC and Institutional Investor.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/13/bitcoin-price-falls-on-worries-about-china-exchange-crackdown.html