Bitstamp

Turkey's Treasury and Finance Ministry is carrying out a study on cryptocurrencies amid recent debate over Bitcoin.

In a press release on Monday, the ministry said it is collaborating with the Turkish Central Bank, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, and the Capital Markets Board in its research.

LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin, the world's best-known cryptocurrency, shot past $8,000 on Tuesday for the first time in two months on signs of growing institutional interest in virtual coins.

Bitcoin slid another 13 percent to below $6,000 on Tuesday, bringing the world's best-known cryptocurrency's losses to more than half since the start of 2018.

Bitcoin has fallen heavily in recent sessions as worries about a regulatory clampdown on the nascent market and panicked investors push prices lower. The virtual currency hit a peak of almost $20,000 in December.

Bitcoin, the world's best-known cryptocurrency, extended losses on Monday to slumped 10 percent on the day on back of concerns about a widening regulatory crackdown, according to Reuters. 

The price of Bitcoin on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange was trading at $7,289 and has now fallen by more than half from a peak of almost $20,000 hit in December.

South Korea will ban the use of anonymous bank accounts in cryptocurrency trading from Jan. 30, regulators said on Tuesday in a widely telegraphed move designed to stop virtual coins from being used for money laundering and other crimes, according to Reuters.

 The price of bitcoin extended its sharp tumble of the past 24 hours, dropping more than seven percent on the Bitstamp exchange on Wednesday, spooked by worries regulators may try to clamp down on the highly-volatile trading in the digital currency, Reuters reports.

Bitcoin slid as much as 14 percent on Tuesday to hit a four-week low below $12,000, as fears grew of a regulatory crackdown after reports that South Korea's finance minister had said banning trading in cryptocurrencies was still an option, reported Reuters. 

Bitcoin plunged by 30 percent to below $12,000 on Friday as investors dumped the cryptocurrency after its sharp rise to a peak close to $20,000 prompted warnings by experts of a bubble.

Bitcoin hovered around $9,600 in volatile trade on Friday, after tumbling about 15 percent from an all-time high hit this week as some money managers warned ominously of a bubble and further falls in the stratospheric cryptocurrency, writes Reuters.

Virtual currency bitcoin soared to an all-time high above $10,000 on Wednesday on major exchanges and digital currency indexes, including the widely followed Luxembourg-based trading platform BitStamp, reported Reuters.

At 0600 GMT, it was quoted around $10,115 on BitStamp, coming sharply off a high of $10,743.6, which was a rise of more than 5 percent on the day.