Bitcoin slumped Friday bringing this month’s spirited surge to a halt and taking rival coins down with it.
The downdraft came after the world’s largest digital currency more than doubled in 2019, with many participants struggling to pinpoint reasons for the rally. In regard to Friday’s spike, the exchange Bitstamp tweeted that it executed a largest sell order and they were investigating it, as they would with any event that causes large-scale movements.
Bitcoin slid as much as 14%, before trimming that loss to about 6.5%, trading at $7,179 as of 10:45 a.m. in New York. Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin were down about 5%-8%. The Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index tumbled 9%, heading for its largest one-day slide in a month.
Speculation over what underpinned the early-May surge in the anonymously owned tokens has run from a possible squeeze on short positions to investor relief that recent hackings and scandals weren’t disrupting the broader market.