Bitcoin lost almost a fifth of its value in 10 hours on Friday, having surged more than 40% in the preceding 48 hours, sparking fears the market may be heading for a price collapse.
In a hectic day on Thursday, bitcoin leapt from below $16,000 to $19,500 in less than an hour on the U.S.-based GDAX, one of the biggest exchanges globally, while it was still changing hands at about $15,900 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp. Having then climbed to $16,666 on Bitstamp at around 0200 GMT on Friday, it tumbled to $13,482 by around 1200 GMT — a slide of more than 19%. As of 1320 GMT it had recovered to around $14,400, still down 13% on the day. “
This correction is an appropriate one after such frenzied trading,” said Nigel Green, founder and chief executive of financial consultancy deVere Group in a note to clients.
“We should expect to see bitcoin see-sawing in coming weeks.”
