Has the bitcoin fever broken?
Bitcoin prices plunged sharply to below $11,000 on Friday, shedding a third of its value in just 24 hours, according to data from CoinDesk.com. It later rebounded slightly to around $12,000 -- but that's still a stunning 25% less valuable than bitcoin was Thursday morning.
Prices had approached $20,000 as recently as Sunday.
Powered by SmartAsset.com
SMARTASSET.COM
The price drop comes on the back of a few days of bad news for bitcoin, which has still soared by more than 1,000% since the start of the year.
On Thursday, a bitcoin spinoff called bitcoin cash was suspended from one of the most popular exchanges after possible insider trading.
Related: What is bitcoin?
Meanwhile, the U.S.'s markets regulator halted trading in a red-hot bitcoin stock.
Earlier in the week, a South Korea-based virtual currency exchange was forced to close its doors after falling victim to two attacks by hackers in the space of a few months.
The incidents have raised questions about the reliability of cryptocurrency markets, which aren't regulated by governments or central banks.
But some argue bitcoin is just taking a breather -- albeit a big one -- after a furious 2017.
