The price of bitcoin seems to be entering a downward trend as investors are getting concerned about the near-time future of the digital currency.
Bitcoin fell below $1,000 on Friday’s morning, losing more than 5% of its value during the selling. This is the first drop above that mark in more than a month. At the time of writing, the virtual currency traded at $944.94, according to CoinMarketCap.
Bitcoin price fell below $1,000 a few times in the last two weeks, but trade never ended below that mark. On Wednesday, the cryptocurrency fell by 10.5% to $997 per coin, but recovered the following day. Last time the trade closed below $1,000 was on February 9.
It is now unclear what is influencing bitcoin’s value. The possible reason is the uncertainty of its future and concerns over the bitcoin hard fork, which could split the cryptocurrency in two separate blockchains.
Overall, bitcoin has been quite volatile this year. It gained over 20% in the first days of January, but later crashed by 35% after the Chinese central bank launched a crackdown on local digital currency exchanges.
Last month, bitcoin reached a record high of $1,327, surging by over 37%. Moreover, the price of virtual currency for the first time surpassed the value of gold.
The bullish trend was attributed to a number of reasons, including the growing demand in China. The other factor that fueled investor interest in the cryptocurrency was speculation regarding the bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval.
The price demonstrated a 200% growth while traders were awaiting for the bictoin ETF decision. However, after the SEC rejected the investment tool proposed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the price of bitcoin plunged by 25%.
Still, it appears that the SEC’s decision is not final yet and may be overturned, as Bats BZX Exchange filed a petition to review the commission’s verdict. The latest move by the exchange is likely to drive bitcoin prices up.
The notice was filed on March 17th, but was published on the SEC’s website earlier this week. “Bats intends to file separately a petition for review in accordance with Rule 430(b)(2) of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Rules of Practice,” the patent reads.
According to the SEC, lack of regulation and the risk of fraud were enough reasons for rejection. The commission stated that the digital currency is too immature to be listed on the exchange.
Currently, there are two other bitcoin ETFs that are expecting SEC’s approval. Both Solid X Bitcoin Trust and Grayscale Investments filed their registration statements last year, with the first one is to get a final decision on March 30.
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