It seems the cryptocurrency market is crashing as fast as it rose.

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The most prominent of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, is now trading at nearly $8,200 per unit after touching its near four-month lows of $7,676. Bitcoin touched its peak on December 11, 2017 when it traded at $17,549 a unit.

Not only this, the entire cryptocurrency market is losing sheen and has lost over $60 billion in value in just one day, CNBC reported.

According to Coinmarketcap.com, the market value of all the virtual currencies stood at $310.4 billion on Thursday, slipping from Wednesday's value of $372.9 billion.

The cryptocurrency market has been witnessing a precipitous fall due to multiple reasons.

Here are four key factors which have pulled down the cryptocurrency market.

A trustee of the bankrupt Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Mt.Gox went on an alleged selling spree.

The exchange closed in 2014 and filed for bankruptcy after losing close to 850,000 bitcoins. Allegations are that one of the trustees has been allegedly selling large amounts of bitcoins illegally.

Also, Google is planning to ban cryptocurrency-related advertising on its platforms, including initial coin offerings (ICOs), wallets and trading advice.

The third reason is the recent spate of scams in the initial coin offering (ICO) space of cryptocurrencies that are being reported. CNBC had earlier reported on how scammers looted over $2 million in cryptocurrencies after carrying out a fake ICO.

Lastly, regulators worldwide are introducing stricter norms and have been taking a tougher stance on the sector.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) summoned cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, and Tether, a digital coin company, last year.

Even in India, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has time and again cautioned investors against these currencies. The Income Tax department, too, has issued noticed to some Bitcoin investors in the country.

In his budget speech of 2018, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reiterated the government’s advice to investors of staying away from cryptocurrencies.

He further said that the government will release stricter regulatory norms and methods to catch hold of the cryptocurrency traders.

The United Kingdom and Japan too have also announced similar actions.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has called for greater regulation of cryptocurrencies. Earlier this month, Japanese regulators issued punishment notices to several cryptocurrency exchanges and forced some to halt business.

First Published:Mar 15, 2018 10:00 AM IST