Bitcoin slumps below $28,000 on Coinbase news

BTC was trading at nearly $28,325, 2.7 per cent lower over the last 24 hours

Bitcoin (BTC) declined below $28k at one time on Thursday as the biggest crypto currency in terms of market capitalization continued its two-day plunge.

BTC was recently trading at nearly $28,325, 2.7 per cent lower over the last 24 hours, as per CoinDesk market data. However the BTC/USD trading pair on the Coinbase exchange dropped to $27,991 soon before U.S. equity markets closed but later bounced back, according to TradingView figures.

Edward Moya, senior market analyst at foreign exchange trader Oanda, noted that bitcoin’s recent drop came after Coinbase Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong suggested that the crypto exchange leader might leave the U.S.

Coinbase was able to obtain a license to operate in Bermuda, in what is being considered a part of their worldwide push, Moya stated. If Coinbase leaves the U.S. market, a number of U.S. traders will be gone as they likely would not feel confident trading on decentralized exchanges, which means the global crypto market will dwindle considerable.

Moya further said: Bitcoin will struggle here till we have any regulatory clarity which means prices seem set to go down.

Ether (ETH), the second-biggest crypto currency in terms of market value, recently declined around a percentage point to trade at nearly $1,948. Ether dropped to $1,917 at one time, its lowest level in a week.

Bitcoin and Ether were 7 per cent and 3 per cent lower, respectively, for the last seven days.

A majority of other leading tokens were trading in the red, with payments-focused crypto currency XRP as well as Litecoin (LTC) recently down more than 5 per cent.

Equity markets also dropped, amid a spate of disappointing Q1 earnings, including car maker Tesla, whose revenues dropped marginally short of consensus estimates, and Blackstone, the world’s biggest alternative asset manager. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.6 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively for the day. The DJIA was 0.3 per cent lower.