Bitcoin dives after the SEC shoots down plans for another bitcoin ETF
The cryptocurrency is down 0.7% at $1,033 a coin. It was as high as $1,066 earlier on Tuesday.
The regulator cited the fact that bitcoin is traded on unregulated markets, which means the SEC wouldn't be able to prevent fraud or market manipulation.
In its ruling the SEC said:
Tuesday's announcement follows a similar ruling that was reached on March 10, when the SEC said it had rejected the Winklevoss twins' bitcoin ETF.
2017 has been a volatile year for bitcoin.
The cryptocurrency gained 20% in the first week of the year, but soon crashed 35% after reports surfaced that China was going to crack down on trading. First, China's biggest exchanges started charging a flat fee of 0.2% per transaction, then they announced they were blocking customer withdrawals.
But bitcoin continued to climb higher, putting in a peak of $1,327 a coin shortly before the SEC rejected the Winklevoss ETF.
Since then, however, bitcoin has tumbled more than 20% following reports developers were threatening a "hard fork" that would split the currency in two.
Bitcoin has been the top-performing currency every year since 2010, aside from 2014.
A third SEC ruling on a bitcoin ETF, by Grayscale Investments, is also expected to be rejected; although the timing of a final decision is not yet known.
