Bitcoin plunges

Bitcoin Instantly Plunges

35% as Exchange Reopens

Business Insider,

11 April, 2013

Mt. Gox, the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, reopened at 10 PM ET Thursday following a 12-hour trading halt.

The virtual currency plunged to $78, instantly losing 35% of its value from where it was when trading was halted earlier in the day ($120).

From Wednesday’s intraday peak of $266, Bitcoin had lost 70% of its value.

After a few wild swings tonight, Bitcoin is now trading around $97 (down 19 per cent from before the trading halt and 64 per cent off Wednesday’s high).

Note: This chart has no x-axis, but it shows Bitcoin prices from April 9 through today.

Earlier today, Mt. Gox halted trading, saying the market needed to “cool down” after a massive sell-off yesterday that at one point resulted in a 61% decline from the virtual currency’s peak intraday price of $266.

The problem, according to the exchange, was a massive influx of new users in recent days, causing the trading platform to lag, which sparked a sell-off among skittish traders.

Trading tonight has been volatile. Bitcoin has been trading below $100 on smaller, less liquid exchanges while the Mt. Gox exchange has been closed.