Bitcoin has lost nearly a third of its value in just a week as cryptocurrencies come under renewed regulatory pressure.
Bitcoin was trading 7.5% down on the day on Tuesday – its lowest level for more than a year according to the Bitstamp exchange – hours after US tech stocks endured fresh losses on Wall Street.
It left Bitcoin valued just above $4,300 (£3,342).
Only 11 months ago, a bull run for the digital currency stopped just shy of a record $20,000 but it has remained largely on a downward spiral since.
Other cryptocurrencies were also feeling the pain with Ethereum’s Ether losing 10% and Ripple’s XRP down 13% on the day.
Naeem Aslam of Think Markets said: “Fundamentally speaking, the current sell-off is once again triggered due to the regulatory pressure.
Despite the introduction of a futures market to help ease market volatility, see-saw values have continued to plague attempts to bolster crediblity.
Some of the latest falls have also been attributed to a battle for control of a smaller crypto operator called Bitcoin Cash.
Bitcoin exchange Kraken said in a blog post that it regarded one of the two new Bitcoin Cash crypto-currencies – Bitcoin SV – as “an extremely risky investment”.
At its peak, in November 2017, it briefly hit $19,783 – which means the price has fallen by about 75%.