Breaking news for bitcoin investors.
Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency known so far, has crashed nearly 80 per cent from its record high levels of around $20,000 per unit, that too within a span of 11 months. Bitcoin prices registered a record high above $19,500 on various cryptocurrency exchanges around the world on 17 December 2017. On coinbase.com, bitcoin’s all time-high price, as read from charts, was at $19,539.22; on coindesk.com, bitcoin record high price was $19,783.06.
While according to cointelegraph.com, bitcoin logged an intraday record high price of $19,891 on 17 December 2017. Since December 2017, bitcoin prices have been on a falling trend with one of the biggest drop observed in the months of January-February 2018, when bitcoin prices fell to $6,812.51 on 6 February from $16,665.31 as on 6 January 2018. Since February till mid-November 2018, bitcoin was trading above $6,000.
Recently last week, bitcoin saw massive bloodshed when the per unit prices breached $6,000 level and touched a low of 4,117.86, as per coinbase.com. Bitcoin prices have fallen 78.93 per cent from its record high, 35.9 per cent in a month, 24.93 per cent in a week and 69.32 per cent in the current year, according to the data available with coinbase.com.
Over the time, during bitcoin’s rising popularity, a number experts including Warren Buffett and regulators have issued stern warnings against cryptocurrencies.
Warren Buffett, greatest investment wizard of the century and the king of Wall Street, has once said: “You can’t value bitcoin because it’s not a value-producing asset”.
With regard to massive spurt in bitcoin prices, back in time, Warren Buffett expressed: "You're just hoping the next guy pays more. And you only feel you'll find the next guy to pay more if he thinks he's going to find someone that's going to pay more”.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has declared: “Bitcoin is a fraud and will blow up,” adding, “The currency isn’t going to work.”
Founder of Vanguard Group Inc Jack Bogle, after bitcoin prices crossed $11,000 for first time, has stated: “Avoid bitcoin like the plague. Did I make myself clear?”.
India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that bitcoin is not a legal tender and further cautioned investors who have been putting their money as it is not regulated by any governing body.
Earlier this year itself, the Reserve Bank of India cautioned and warned the users about risks associated with buying and selling virtual currencies such as bitcoin.
In April 2018, the RBI ordered all the financial institutions, regulated by it, to cut the ties with individuals or entities dealing in virtual currencies within three months.
Further, in the same order, RBI said services such as “maintaining accounts, registering, trading, settling, clearing, giving loans against virtual tokens, accepting them as collateral, opening accounts of exchanges dealing with them and transfer/receipt of money in accounts relating to purchase/sale” of virtual currencies should be stopped.