Credit: Shutterstock photoBitcoin tumbled below $11,000 intraday Friday, after topping $20,000 on Sunday, to cap off the worst week for the cryptocurrency since 2013, amid a flurry of warnings from central banks and an insider trading probe at a Coinbase, which halted Bitcoin trades for hours. Other cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, Bitcoin Gold, Ripple and Litecoin, were big losers Friday.
[ibd-display-video id=3039338 width=50 float=left autostart=true] On the spot market, Bitcoin was down 8% to $14,281.68 after falling as low as $10,834.94 intraday, according to Coindesk . CME Group ( CME ) futures and Cboe Global Markets ( CBOE ) futures were down to about $14,030 after brief halts following 20% intraday dives for both contracts. Bitcoin began the week above $20,000 but has fallen every day since Sunday.
Ethereum fell 14%, Bitcoin Gold 18%, Ripple 2% and Litecoin 9% at Coinmarketcap .
Among Bitcoin-related stocks, like Riot Blockchain ( RIOT ) lost 9.8, Marathon Patent Group ( MARA ) fell 9.4%, and Overstock.com ( OSTK ) declined 2.5% on the stock market today . Long Island Iced Tea (LTEA) sank 13%, after popping 183% Thursday on news it was getting into blockchain and changing its name to Long Blockchain . Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) rose 11.7% after a huge intraday loss.
Warnings and red flags piled up for cryptocurrency investors over the past week.
On Monday, Denmark's central bank governor called Bitcoin a "deadly" gamble and told investors not to "come and complain to us if it goes wrong."
Then Tuesday, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Youbit announced it was closing and filing for bankruptcy after it was hacked for a second time this year.
On the same day, the Monetary Authority of Singapore warned investors they need to "understand the significant risks" and exercise "extreme caution" with Bitcoin.
On Wednesday, investors were spooked after Coinbase announced an internal insider trading probe into its Bitcoin Cash debut . On Friday, Coinbase buy and sell orders were temporarily disabled due to heavy volume.
Central bank warnings continued Thursday, when Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda warned that Bitcoin isn't behaving like a normal currency and is being used for speculation.
Asian regulators have been especially skeptical of the cryptocurrency as heavy trading takes place in Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.
IBD'S TAKE:Are Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital currencies real investments or a speculator's game? Individual investors should be extremely cautious about diving into this new area. Read this feature about Bitcoin risks and possible gains first.
To be sure, Bitcoin is still up from the $10,000 level it started at in the beginning of the month, not to mention the $1,000 level at the start of the year.
But the sharp sell-off this week may give big Wall Street players some pause, even as Goldman Sachs (GS) considers opening a cryptocurrency trading desk in June or even earlier, according to Bloomberg .
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
