Turbulent 24 hours for Bitcoin

It has been a bumpy 24 hours for the world’s leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin. After a significant surge yesterday, in which its price soared over $500 in an hour, it later crashed and is currently hovering around $7,300, which has effectively wiped out most of yesterday’s gains.

At its peak Bitcoin momentarily reached $7,760 before dropping to around $7,480, a position held for most of the day. At the end of the day a significant slump occurred leaving the Bitcoin price at $7,100, though it has rallied slightly today (Thursday).

Overall the cryptocurrency has been on a downward spiral since the weekend, losing almost 10 per cent of value.

There are already conflicting theories as to why the cryptocurrency rose and fell so quickly. One argument is that as there is very little price movement in Bitcoin at the current time so any surges or sales trigger a mini stampede.

Others believe that there was a degree of market manipulation undertaken by Bitcoin’s champions. Crypto cynic and leading gold investor Peter Schiff argued: “Bitcoin pump & dumpers are losing their mojo. They managed to pump the price by $550 in one minute, a 7.5 per cent spike. Yet the dump reversed the entire pump with an 8 per cent drop in just 7.5 hours. If #Bitcoin pumpers can no longer sucker in new buyers the game is over. Look out below!”

Other explanations cite the stablecoin Tether being responsible for the movement, with individuals using newly minted coins to buy Bitcoin, which they proceed to dump for fiat.

The drama has only underlined the turbulent nature of cryptocurrencies in general and Bitcoin in particular. For some investors the cryptocurrency offers the potential to make significant margins through using CFDs as offered by Currency.com ‘s partner site Capital.com.

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FURTHER READING: Trading Bitcoin for beginners