Bitcoin fell as much as 20% on Wednesday, piercing below $10,000, while other cryptocurrencies took similar spills due to investor fears that regulators could clamp down on them in an effort to curb speculation.
The world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency at one point lost 30% of its value since Tuesday. Bitcoin, despite some stabilisation in late US trading, was half its record peak of almost $20,000 set on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange a month ago.
Ethereum and Ripple, the No. 2 and No. 3 virtual currencies, tumbled after reports South Korea and China could ban cryptocurrency trading, sparking worries of a wider regulatory crackdown.
"There is a lot of panic in the market. People are selling to try and get the hell out of there," said Charles Hayter, founder of Cryptocompare, which owns cryptocurrencies.
"You have more regulatory uncertainty ... and because of these falls, you have these other fallouts," he said, referring to the collapse of some cryptocurrencies in the recent slump in prices.
Analysts at Citi said on Wednesday bitcoin could halve again in value amid the current rout, adding that a possible fall to a range between $5,605 and $5,673 "looks very...
