Bitcoin Sheds $38 Billion in Hectic Weekend of Trading
Bitcoin shed as much as $38 billion from its recent peak value over the weekend as the cryptocurency slumped and surged over a wild two-days of trading amid speculation that a delayed upgrade in its architecture has driven some investors to alternative digital coins with stronger blockchain backing.
Bitcoin prices plunged to as low as $5,500 each in weekend trading on the Bitsmap exchange, a stunning 27% slump from the $8,000 peak the cryptocurrency hit last week after its founders said they would delay a so-called "fork" in bitcoin's architecture that would give its blockchain -- a method used to track and verify transactions -- more power. The move, however, would have also potentially split the cryptocurrency into separate units.
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