Investing.com – Bitcoin fell sharply on Thursday raising doubts over the strength of the recent recovery which has seen the digital currency bounce back from one of the worst crashes in its nine-year history.
On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, bitcoin fell to $3,629.5, down $246, or 6.35%. The slump in Bitcoin took its market cap below $62bn.
Bitcoin’s struggle to steady above $4,000 following its post-China-ban recovery has unnerved investors somewhat, some of whom have warned that Bitcoin is a “bubble”.
"It's not an effective storehold of wealth because it has volatility to it, unlike gold," Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio said Tuesday. "Bitcoin is a highly speculative market. Bitcoin is a bubble."
Others market participants, however, have been quick to downplay the fallout in the wake of the China ban on local exchanges. The Chinese bitcoin exchange market only accounted for approximately 10-13% percent of global bitcoin trading activity so far this year.
Chinese authorities ordered all Bitcoin exchanges in Beijing and Shanghai to submit plans for winding down their operations by 20 September, the BBC reported earlier this week.
Bitcoin Cash fell 10.53% to $427.57 while Ethereum lost 9.70% to $256.17.