Bitcoin was attempting a recovery on Friday after suffering its longest losing streak in a year as Chinese regulators cracked down on cryptocurrencies.
The crytpocurrency tumbled 16 per cent to $3,227.90 on Thursday after BTCChina, one of the country’s largest bitcoin exchanges, said it plans to halt trading at the end of this month. The fall on Thursday marked the seventh consecutive fall for Bitcoin, according to Reuters data.
The People’s Bank of China earlier this month declared initial coin offerings illegal and called a halt to fundraising involving virtual coins. The move by the PBoC has triggered fears that a broader crackdown on cryptocurrencies is on its way, with the price of bitcoin falling 27.2 per cent since the announcement.
Bitcoin was up 4.4 per cent on Friday morning in Asia at $3,371.14.
The cryptocurrency surged above $5,000 earlier this month as demand for bitcoin jumped. Despite this month’s fall, bitcoin is up 247 per cent for the year to date.