After reaching its highest value this year earlier this morning, a sudden drop saw almost $300 wiped off the price of Bitcoin (BTC) over a three hour period. Bitcoin now sits at just north of $10,140—down more than 1.4% in the last day. Bitcoin is now just inches about the $10,000 threshold, which it only broke through earlier this week.
This loss comes just hours after the US Treasury Secretary promised that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) will roll out "some significant new requirements" in the near future—though it remains unclear if this relates to cryptocurrency holders or businesses. This bearish price action comes after almost two months of near-constant growth, which saw the cryptocurrency appreciate by more than 54% since mid-December.
Despite this sudden bearish turn, Bitcoin trading volume is at its highest point in almost a month—more than $45 billion worth of BTC changed hands in the last 24 hours.
The bullish momentum over the last few days came after comments were made in a hearing of the US House Committee on Financial Services on the idea of the US launching a digital currency. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the Fed was working hard researching whether a digital currency could be a viable option.