Bitcoin fell by 13% this Sunday, after the world’s largest and most well-known cryptocurrency suffered another wave of sales that led it to accumulate a drop of almost 50% from its peak in the year.
The cryptocurrency fell to $32,601 at 1800 GMT, down $4,899.54 since its previous close. On April 14, it reached an annual high of $64,895.22.
The ether, the currency associated with the ethereum blockchain network, lost 17% to $1,905 on Sunday, erasing $391.31 of its value since its previous close.
Bitcoin markets operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, giving rise to price swings in unpredictable hours.
“Many point out that bitcoin volatility is unsustainable,” RBC Capital Markets’ Amy Wu Silverman wrote in a research note published Saturday. “In fact, bitcoin has severe and dizzying oscillations.”
Bitcoin has been under pressure after a series of tweets from Tesla’s multibillion-dollar CEO, Elon Musk, last week in which he reversed his decision to accept the cryptocurrency as a means of paying for the company’s cars.
In addition, China took action Friday against mining and trading the world’s largest cryptocurrency as part of its efforts to prevent speculative and financial risks.
China’s Financial Stability and Development Committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Liu He, identified bitcoin as the most regulated asset.
The communiqué, which was known days after three Chinese industrial agencies tightened the ban on banks and payment companies providing cryptocurrency-related services, marked a sharp escalation of the country’s efforts to end speculation and fraud with virtual currencies.
China’s latest offensive against cryptocurrencies came after the U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday called for new rules that would force it to report large cryptocurrency transfers to the Internal Revenue Service, and that the Federal Reserve would point out the risks that cryptocurrencies pose to financial stability.
