Bitcoin is slumping back down toward $10,000
- Bitcoin is down 7%, trading around $10,700 Monday morning.
- The flagship cryptocurrency plummeted last week, before paring some of its losses on Friday.
- Now it could fall below $10,000 per coin once again.
- Follow the price of bitcoin in real-time here>>
After paring much of last week's heavy losses on Friday, the world's largest cryptocurrency lost another 8% on Monday, bottoming out at $10,479 per token.
Bitcoin has lost 17.52% of its value - or roughly $59.27 billion in market cap - since January 15.
Last week, all cryptocurrencies were walloped in what's been called a bloodbath. Fears of clampdowns on mining and exchanges in South Korea, China, and Russia sent values plummeting and major operators looking to set up shop elsewhere.
On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodities Futures Trading Commission released a joint statement emphasizing their commitment to take action against fraud in both cryptocurrencies and the initial coin offering market.
"When market participants engage in fraud under the guise of offering digital instruments - whether characterized as virtual currencies, coins, tokens, or the like - the SEC and the CFTC will look beyond form, examine the substance of the activity and prosecute violations of the federal securities and commodities laws," it said. "The Divisions of Enforcement for the SEC and CFTC will continue to address violations and bring actions to stop and prevent fraud in the offer and sale of digital instruments."
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, also took a hit Monday, falling more than 5% to trade below $1,000 after once again passing the symbolic hurdle last week.
"So far the characteristics of bitcoin have included very high volatility but also a very low level of correlation with other asset classes," Bernstein said in a note to clients Monday. "Bitcoin has at least provided diversification compared to most other assets."