Bitcoin has certainly seen better days.
The crypto currency dropped to a low of $173 early on Wednesday, down from the $244 it was valued at the day before; that"s almost a 30% decrease.
There are many reasons for the recent "crash". One is likely to be Bitcoin "hoarders" being forced to sell their Bitcoins in exchange for dollars (to meet their own costs, for example electricity, as it has become expensive to mine the coins), resulting in the overall currency being worth less as suddenly there are far more Bitcoins on the market.
The effects of the crash are already being realized, with Coindesk having to temporarily shut-down because it says it is no longer profitable to mine the Bitcoins. Whether this service will eventually resume is unknown at this point. But, if the price continues to fall, this situation is only going to get worse.
Bitcoin certainly has not had the best publicity lately, with the Bitcoin exchange, Bitstamp, being hacked, allowing hackers to steal $5 million US dollars worth of the currency.
It seems like Bitcoin is definitely on the downwards spiral; whether it recovers is yet to be seen.
Source: Business Insider | Currency image credited to Shutterstock