Bitcoin Prices Plunge on Rumored China Decision to Close Exchange Accounts

After a report that China’s central bank had ordered banks and payment companies to close the trading accounts of 10 bitcoins exchanges by April 15, 2014, the price of bitcoins has started declining sharply.

“I’m aware of the rumors circulating on the topic,” Bobby Lee, chief executive officer of BTC China, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges in the Asian nation, told Bloomberg. “I haven’t heard of anything else to confirm that. We are still waiting to see what happens.”

The price of bitcoin fell from approximately $629 last Friday March 17 to around $500 March 28, 2014 at 6 AM.  That’s approximately a 20 percent price drop in a week.  In the last 24-hours, bitcoin has fallen from around $580 to around $500 for an almost 14 percent price drop in a single day.

The Chinese news came as part of a tough week for bitcoin—the IRS furthered bitcoins woes by ruling that bitcoins are taxable property.

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