- The severe drop comes roughly three hours after New York's Attorney General
ADVERTISEMENT
Bitcoin just dropped sharply and suddenly
BTC fell by more than 2% in a matter of minutes Tuesday afternoon.
ADVERTISEMENT
Recommended articles
The price of bitcoin tumbled more than 2% in a matter of minutes Tuesday afternoon, roughly three hours after New York's Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced an investigation into major cryptocurrency exchanges.
It wasn't immediately clear what may have caused the sudden drop, but Schneiderman's letters to 13 major cryptocurrency platforms, including New York-based Gemini and Coinbase's GDAX, could have a possible chilling effect on the crypto space at large.
Bitcoin was trading at $7,900 per token at the time of writing, down roughly $160 for the day. While still the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, the price of bitcoin has declined by 41% since the beginning of the year.
ADVERTISEMENT
Most other major cryptocurrencies were in the green Tuesday, with third-largest digital currency litecoin leading the way after Korbit, a Korean trading exchange, said it would support the token.
Reuters also reported Tuesday that Cambridge Analytica, the firm at the heart of Facebook's ongoing data privacy imbroglio, was planning to issue a digital currency.
FOLLOW BUSINESS INSIDER AFRICA
ADVERTISEMENT
Recommended articles
Studio Monkey in collaboration with Worldwide FM and Gilles Peterson launches initiative to support grassroot music communities
NexaScale marks one-year milestone with visionary initiatives empowering Africa's youth for the future of work
How Patrice Motsepe-backed GoSolr wants to solve South Africa's power crises
Harsh words for the World Bank from Uganda’s president at the meeting of African leaders
The artificial intelligence boom is real: why are more and more companies incorporating it into their operations?
The US and Uganda partner to combat a deadly enemy
See why ice is now pricier than bread and milk in this African country
8 ingenious tips to merge PDF files more efficiently
