Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency, continues to be extremely volatile, with its price briefly sinking below $30,000 U.S. and erasing all this year’s gains.
In pre-market trading Wednesday (June 23), Bitcoin recovered and climbed back near $34,000 U.S. after plunging the previous day, according to Coin Metrics data.
The cryptocurrency last traded at $33,969 U.S., up nearly 8% in the past 24 hours.
Smaller cryptocurrencies also rose in early trading, with Ethereum rising 6% to $2,014 U.S. and XRP up 9% at a price of 64 cents U.S.
Bitcoin had a solid start to the year, rallying to an all-time high of almost $65,000 in April ahead of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s initial public offering and as institutional investors appeared to be warming to the digital asset.
But the world’s biggest digital coin has since fallen, almost halving in value amid a slew of negative news.
In China, authorities have been clamping down on Bitcoin mining, the power-intensive process for validating transactions and generating new Bitcoins. Over the weekend, China’s crackdown on crypto mining extended to the hydropower-rich Sichuan province.
Then, the People’s Bank of China on Monday said it had urged financial institutions including major banks not to provide services related to cryptocurrency activities.
Critics of cryptocurrencies have long been wary about its impact on the environment. That could threaten the adoption of Bitcoin by institutional investors, which are under growing pressure to invest in cleaner, more ethical assets.
