Bitcoin Daily: Bitcoin Tumbles Below $10k, Iran Mulls Crypto

It wasn’t to be: Bitcoin’s rally has seemingly come to an end, MarketWatch reported. The world’s most popular cryptocurrency fell below $10,000 after nearly reaching $12,000. According to Coindesk, it reached $9,604.84 as of 8:14 P.M.

And Robinhood is taking on Coinbase with a no-fee crypto trading feature in five states, TechCrunch reported. Users in California, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana and New Hampshire can trade bitcoin and Ethereum without any fees from the exchange. By comparison, Coinbase charges between 1.5 and 4 percent for transactions from the U.S. on its site. So far, there has been a great deal of interest: One million people signed up in the four days after the company announced the feature.

Those in Venezuela will not be able to pay for the country’s Petro digital tokens with the Venezuelan bolivar, Bloomberg reported. A website selling the coins in a supposed pre-sale would only accept payment in euros and U.S. dollars, as well as bitcoin and ether. But since Venezuela doesn’t allow its citizens to purchase the currency of other countries, local users are essentially not able to participate in the presale.

And another nation, Iran, is considering launching its own cryptocurrency, CNBC reported. Iran’s Minster of Information and Communications Technology, Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi, said in a Twitter post that the country’s state-run banks are seeking to develop their own digital coins. The Iran Front Page also reported the statement on Wednesday (Feb. 21). In addition to Iran, other countries – including China, Russia and Singapore – have tried working with their own cryptocurrencies.

In New York, another government official has offered his critique on cryptocurrency, MarketWatch reported. The New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley said that a “speculative mania” surrounds cryptocurrencies. He made the comment at a media event about Puerto Rico’s economy following the hurricanes it has faced. Only a day before, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney had commented that bitcoin is failing as a currency.