Bitcoin (BTC) backpedaled on Monday afternoon after registering a new record high over the weekend. BTC breached through the $60,000 level to hit a peak of $61,674 on Saturday.
The world’s top digital asset was in retreat by the beginning of the week, falling 6% to $56,366 around noon in London. Bitcoin fell by as much as 9.3% before changing hands at $56,130 as of 1:04 p.m. in New York.
BTC’s price plunge came in the wake of reports that India could ban cryptocurrencies altogether, potentially cutting off one of the largest markets in the globe.
People could be fined for mining or owning bitcoins under the country’s latest proposals, reports said.
Bitcoin’s regulatory concerns
Bitcoin fell on the news from India before recouping some losses after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman walked back the report.
Bitcoin notched its latest all-time high on positivism that some of the crisis relief checks in the U.S. will end up chasing the crypto’s strong rally.
“Bitcoin quickly became an overheated market, prompting many crypto whales to lock in profits,” Insider quoted Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, as saying.
Moya added that the expectation of a digital currency prohibition in India was already telegraphed but put “added fuel to the bitcoin pullback.”
Nigel Green, chief executive and founder of financial advisory group deVere, said regulation might become an increasing worry for bitcoin and the broader virtual currency market.
Bitcoin seen to rise threefold
Meanwhile, Richard Byworth, chief executive of cryptocurrency exchange Diginex, forecasts bitcoin to triple in value before the year ends.
“We’re modeling out around $175K for the price of bitcoin by the end of 2020,” Byworth said during an interview with Bloomberg.
Bitcoin has rallied over 1,000% in the past 12 months, pushed higher by indications of increased institutional and corporate interest alongside the usual speculative demand.
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