Bitcoin dives 14%, slumping below $5,000

On Tuesday, crypto assets dived, with Bitcoin decreasing below the psychologically crucial $5,000 mark for the first time this year.

As a matter of fact, Bitcoin headed south by 13.5% ending up with $4,930.00 on the Bitifinex exchange.

On the Poloniex exchange, XRP declined by 1.2% trading at $0.49762.

As for Ethereum, it dived by 13.9% demonstrating a reading of $150.95. Litecoin lost 9.5% trading at $37.917 on the Bitifinex exchange.

The dive in prices occurred after the US Securities and Exchange Commission uncovered its first penalties against two crypto companies, which didn’t have their ICO registered as securities.

The two companies, Paragon Coin and Airfox, are obliged to pay penalties of up to $250,000 in order to compensate their investors.

As some market experts pointed out, the given selloff has to do with enforcement that is underway now. It’s evident that projects are being created to return investor funds, and having spent a lot of money on marketing their $100 million Initial Coin Offering on a luxurious party-filled road-show, which was rather a normal thing for this vintage of ICOs, is going to be tough.

From a January peak the crypto market has already lost over $670 billion, as follows from data provided by CoinMarketCap.com. Eventually, the number one crypto asset, Bitcoin has lost over 70% from its December 2017 maximum.

The previous week, Japan’s Financial Services Agency informed it’s on the verge of regulating crypto wallets. Now, only companies, buying and selling crypto assets, must register with the agency.

Nevertheless, Switzerland’s government approved the world’s first crypto exchange-traded fund. The crypto startup Amun AG has obtained approval for the fund, which would attract investments in key crypto assets, including Ethereum, Litecoin, XRP, Bitcoin as well as Bitcoin cash in the nearer future.