
The price of the digital coin fell as much as 4.6 percent Tuesday to $6,450.01, bringing the slide for the year to more than 50 percent. It’s down from a record high of $19,511 reached in December, the culmination of the more than 1,400 percent surge seen in 2017 as Bitcoin burst on to the mainstream.

Cryptocurrencies have been beset by a string of bad news. Most recently was the “cyber intrusion” on the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinrail this past weekend that appeared to result in a loss of an unknown quantity of digital currency. Bitcoin slumped 12 percent on Monday.
“The relative size of this user group raises questions,” Susan Eustis, president of WinterGreen Research Inc., said in an email. “As cryptocurrency venues have come under growing scrutiny around the world in recent months amid a range of issues including thefts, market manipulation and money laundering, the base of the Bitcoin appeal has eroded.”
Skeptics have remained vocal. Bitcoin got no love from two of the world’s wealthiest men, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, with the latter calling the currency "probably rat poison squared” last month.
In China, the Communist Party-run People’s Daily reported on June 7 that the country will continue to crack down on illegal fundraising and risks linked to Internet finance, quoting central bank officials. The nation’s cleanup of initial coin offerings and Bitcoin exchanges has almost been completed, the newspaper said, citing Sun Hui, an official at the Shanghai branch of the central bank.
Article from Bloomberg written by Janine Wolf and Olga Kharif