The downturn has been accelerated by factors such as the increased US regulatory scrutiny, and a delay to January 2019 of the anticipated launch of bitcoin futures by Bakkt, Intercontinental Exchange’s crypto platform. As such, bitcoin fell to USD 3,519.94 on the Bitstamp platform, after earlier falling to a 14-month trough of USD 3,462,57, and was last down 12.6%. More precisely, it has lost 74 % of its value so far, after hitting nearly USD 20,000 in December 2017. Other digital currencies also fell, namely Ethereum’s ether fell down 7% at USD 106.69, and Ripple’s XRP falling 5.6 % to 34 US cents.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission was partly involved in the recent sell-off, as it delayed its approval of new bitcoin instruments, as well as it conducted investigations of initial coin offerings and crypto exchanges.
Moreover, the SEC has ordered civil penalties against Airfox and Paragon Coin that sold digital tokens deemed as securities in initial coin offerings. Also, the US Department of Justice had initiated an investigation of cryptocurrency Tether over possible manipulation of bitcoin prices at the end of 2017.
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