Bitcoin Slides Again As Banks Curb Buying

And the hits keep coming … to bitcoin’s price.

The cryptocurrency’s value was down more than 7 percent on Monday (Feb. 5) to roughly $7,600, a level that would represent a new low not seen in more than two months. That slide occurred as global concerns come to bear on the digital currency, tied primarily to bans on buying bitcoin levied by banks.

As reported by Reuters, the price, quoted from Bitstamp, now represents a fall that has taken bitcoin well off its peak of nearly $20,000 seen late last year. And, as noted in this space, last week was one to forget for digital currencies at large, where several names were off double-digit percentages.

In the latest salvo against trading bitcoin, Lloyds Banking Group said Sunday that it would ban its clients from buying the marquee crypto (that would be bitcoin, of course) using credit cards, which comes on the heels of similar bans from Citigroup and JPMorgan. Banks have been banning such purchases with cards on the caution that they could be exposed to liabilities, as the currencies continue to show extreme volatility in trading.

Regulatory issues continue to impact the cryptocurrency realm. In one recent example, pressure came as India’s Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, said late last week that the country “does not consider cryptocurrencies legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate use of these cryptoassets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payment system.”

As has been widely noted, in the middle of last month, bitcoin breached a key $10,000 barrier, as news came that the South Korean government would tax income earned by virtual currency exchanges by as much as 24 percent.