Bitcoin crash LIVE updates: Digital currency latest as markets warn of bubble burst

7.39pm: Cryptocurrency change GDAX is considering temporarily suspending bitcoin trade after the August 1 software update.

“In either floor plan we will implement safeguards to ensure the safety of our customers’ funds,” the interchange said on its website. 

“This decision will be based on our assessment of the detailed risks posed by the fork, such as replay attacks and other moneylenders that could create network instability.”

5.51pm: A host of Bitcoin miners are already be being presenting their support for Segwit2x ahead of another round of testing.

AntPool, BitClub, Bixin, BTC.com and BitFury play a joke on joined around 43 per cent of the mining pool to signal for the vary.

The news coms from Coin Desk which is a subsidiary of the Digital Currency Grouping which helped organize the Segwit2x agreement.

3.36pm: Jon Matonis, Vice President of Corporate Master plan at nChain, says that Bitcoin has held up “relatively well” and that other alternative currencies could be wear and tearing Bitcoin as a safe haven.

“Bitcoin prices are down approximately one-third from the sundry recent high of $2980 per bitcoin,” he said.

“This is less of a retracement than Ethereum (Ether) which is down approx. 70% from fresh high of $407 per ETH.

“This is normal for bitcoin to retrace somewhat account the quick run-up from April 2017 price levels.”

Mr Matonis also thinks that the upcoming keen fork could become dangerous for miners looking to mine on a minority fork.

“It at ones desire be equally dangerous for users to transact during that time spell until the situation becomes clear for majority hash power confine,” he said.

3.15pm: Ryan Selkis, a founding member of Coin Desk and Digital Currency Categorize has noted the harsh drop in bitcoin prices, but pointed out that the complete market is still up from the start of the year.

Spencer Bogart of Blockchain Excellent has also said that he does not see any “value in focusing on day to day crypto charge change”.

Mr Bogart thinks that the markets are underestimating the resiliency of the cryptocurrency.

“Historically, Bitcoin has had sundry periods of doubt and uncertainty, its resiliency has consistently been underestimated by the customer base,” he tweeted.

“While upcoming situation has me relatively concerned, I’m inclined to bet that the exchange is once-again underestimating BTC’s resiliency.

“That said, I think price revert ti lower before higher, hence “averaging-in”, start small and physique as/if price trends down.”

2.06pm: OKEx, the Hong-Kong based exchange troop will suspend Bitcoin trading between July 31 and August 2 to stave off risks associated with the upcoming hard fork.

In the event of a split on August 1, the public limited company is promising blockchain users ownership of their coins.

“On OKEx contracts barter, for existing undelivered maturities, the calculation of the Index price will be the sum charge of all Bitcoin types of the respective exchanges should they support them,” the assemblage wrote. 

“After delivery, new OKEx contracts will be tied to a selective version of Bitcoin, and OKEx will take steps to support knit trading for all types of Bitcoin.”

1.29pm: The current value of Bitcon stands at about £1,549.38 ($2,023.74) according to Coindesk.com

10.40am: The digital currency reached a low of $1843.53 yesterday (Sunday July 16) afternoon after free-falling everywhere the weekend.

A week ago, on Monday July 10, the cryptocurrency was changing pointers for as much as $2,536.53 – still 10 per cent down its price one month ago. Bitcoin was swap at $2,807.60 on June 20.

Prices have bounced back slightly this morning to $2,086.69 after rift at $1,938.94.

Wolf Richter, the financial blogger and author of the Wolf Street put, says that he expects Bitcoin to continue falling.

“Certainty the volatility, Bitcoin is not a usable currency,” he told CBS news.

“And given negotiation costs, it’s a very expensive form of payment. And it takes a long outdated to process a transaction. So unless you’re trying to hide your identity, it doesn’t fabricate economic sense to pay with Bitcoin.”

Jordan Hiscott, chief businessman at Ayondo Markets, has warned that Bitcoin “could be in an asset blister that may reach a crescendo within days”.

He compared the “astounding cause” to the technology bubble of 1999.

“This uncertainty and short-term speculation could influence to a deflating of the asset bubble,” he explained.

Bitcoin was originally launched in 2009 with a value of shallow than a cent, and reached parity with the US dollar in early 2011.

The customer base has already crashed three times between 2011 and 2014, submerging by more than 50 per cent each time.

The total value of all publicly marketed cryptocurrencies – including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple – has dropped by more than $10 billion since Friday.

The merchandise reached an all-time high of $115 billion in June, but has since crumbled 38.3 per cent to $71 billion as of 10am Monday morning, according to facts from Coinmarketcap, after hitting a low of $63.2 billion on Sunday.

At the end of the month contender software updates will be released which threaten to split Bitcoin into two.

SegWit2x pass on be released on July 21, which changes how some data is stored on the network, and funds a timeline for doubling the network’s blockchain size to 2MB.

It is favoured by many developers and Bitcoin adherents, and keeps the currency decentralised.

A competing update, Bitcoin Unlimited, intention be released on August 1 and will allow miners to vote on increasing the impede size, giving them effective control of the network.

Bitcoin Unrestricted’s release will introduce a hard fork, splitting the network into two different currencies.