From the AP:

It’s a promising form of electronic cash free from central bankers and beloved by hackers. It - Bitcoin - may also be in trouble, registering catastrophic losses that have sent speculators scrambling.

Although the cybercurrency has existed for years as a kind of Internet oddity, a perfect storm of developments have brought it to the cusp of mainstream use.

As currency crises in Europe piqued investors’ interest, a growing number of businesses announced they were accepting bitcoins for an ever-wider range of goods and services. The value of a single bitcoin began racing upward amid growing media attention, smashing past the $100 mark last week before more than doubling again in just a few days.

Then came the crash.

The price of Bitcoin has imploded, falling from around $266 on Wednesday to just above $40 on Thursday, according to bitcoincharts.com, which tracks trades across the Internet. The best-known exchange, Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, has suspended trading for what it described as a 12-hour “market cooldown.” By late Thursday, the currency was back up to just more than $100.

Read more HERE

 

///