Bitcoin price tumbles in wake of record highs and ‘halving’

Price is still far above where it was at the start of the year

(REUTERS)

The price of bitcoin is tumbling in the wake of record highs and the “halving” event.

The value of the cryptocurrency has now fallen 17 per cent over the last month, and 12 per cent in the last week.

The market for digital currencies generally has fallen sharply, too, though not as much as bitcoin itself. The value of the market is down 4.2 per cent over the last day, according to tracking website CoinMarketCap, with trading volumes sharply up.

Even with that recent weak performance, however, bitcoin is still far above where it was when its current run began. After a relatively stable 2023, the price started to rapidly gain in February.

By March, bitcoin was hitting record highs of around $72,000. On Wednesday, it was trading at around $57,000 – sharply down from that high, but far above where it was even in February.

The current turbulence comes amid increased interest in bitcoin since its halving, which happened earlier this month. That technical event, which means that mining the cryptocurrency will become more difficult, happens roughly every four years and can bring new interest and volatility to the cryptocurrency.

That event happened on 20 April. Then, bitcoin was trading around $64,000, and it has traded down steadily since.

The three halving events before then had been associated with price rallies.