WASHINGTON: Bitcoin fell below $9,000 Friday afternoon to a daily low of $8,587, according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index. The latest fall is said to triggered by regulation fears.
On Thursday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission warned of “potentially unlawful” systems that trade crypto-currencies, which investors may use with an unearned sense of safety.
The world’s biggest and best-known digital currency BTC=BTSP was last down 7.53 percent at $9,924.03 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange yesterday. It fell as low as $9,450 earlier Wednesday, which was the lowest since Feb. 26.
The cryptocurrency came under pressure earlier in the week after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said exchanges that offer trading of “digital assets that are securities” would have to register with the agency.
That statement on Wednesday came after weeks of subpoenas from the SEC in its attempt to establish better control over the many trading platforms and exchanges.
Regulatory developments in the Asia Pacific region also likely put a dampener on prices this week.
Japan’s Financial Services Agency issued punishment notices to a number of exchanges in the country on Thursday, Reuters reported. Regulators also suspended operations at Bit Station and FSHO for a month, the news agency reported.
Regulatory scrutiny in the country increased after $530 million worth of virtual tokens were stolen from Coincheck, a Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange, earlier this year.
