Investing.com - The price of digital currency bitcoin fell back below the psychologically important $10,000 level on Thursday as a recovery from a sharp selloff at the start of the month fizzled out.
Bitcoin was trading at $9,883 on the Bitfinex exchange by 07:58 AM ET (12:58 GMT), down around 10% for the day.
Prices have fallen since hitting a high of $11,776 on Tuesday, the most since January 29.
Bitcoin prices had been gradually recovering after falling to more than two month lows in early February amid a massive selloff triggered by fears over a regulatory crackdown, concerns over potential price manipulation in the market, and a hack on cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck in which over $500 million was stolen.
Fears over a heavy handed crackdown had eased after South Korea’s market regulator indicated earlier this week that authorities might adopt a lighter regulatory approach towards the cryptocurrency industry.
It was welcome news for investors after the country’s justice minister warned in January that the government was considering shutting down local cryptocurrency exchanges, throwing the market into turmoil.
South Korea has become a hub for the cryptocurrency trade.
Other major cryptocurrencies also traded lower, with Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, down around 9.6% to $800.
The third largest cryptocurrency Ripple was down around 11.6% to $0.90.