Bitcoin has lost 80% since its record of 2017

In the past two weeks, bitcoin has steepened and lost more than 35%. Since its peak in December 2017, the virtual currency has already lost 80%. In France, the authorities have issued a warning against cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin

continues to fall. This Monday, this virtual currency loses more than 8% against the dollar. Bitcoin fell below $ 4,000 for the first time in fourteen months. From its peak in December 2017, to more than $ 19,500, according to data from Bloomberg financial news agency, the electronic currency has lost 80% of its value. Its decline has accelerated in the last two weeks, during which bitcoin dropped by more than 35%.

This renewed investor mistrust of bitcoin is not isolated: other cryptocurrencies are also abandoned at the moment. Monday, the ether

gave up 6.5%, the XRP

fell 7.5% and the monero

deviated by 15%. Apparently investors who had bet on these virtual currencies have chosen to withdraw their marbles, worried about the risks that have materialized in recent months.

In August, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US Financial Markets Supervisory Authority, rejected applications to market index funds related to bitcoin. It has also recently ruled that money launderings via initial coin offerings (ICOs), ie loans made in virtual currency to finance a company, did not comply with the legal rules. Some countries prohibit investment in bitcoin. This is the case in Saudi Arabia, for example. Investors fear that this type of ban is spreading, which would affect the value of this badet based on the "blockchain", a technology that can verify at any time the integrity of the entire market.

This technology, which is also used in many other areas such as data protection or product traceability, also seems to be one of the causes of the decline of bitcoin. The "mining", the creation of new bitcoins, requires more and more sophisticated calculations, which requires the use of computers that consume electricity.. Whoever wants to mine a bitcoin is therefore exposed to higher and higher costs. Some of these "miners" even had to abandon this activity because it was no longer profitable because of the decline in the price of the electronic currency. "Prices have gone down to a level where mining has become too expensive for some," says investment bank JPMorgan in a note released last Friday.

In addition, the bitcoin remains under the threat of possible hacks trading platforms or virtual portfolios of investors. In France, the AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers) once again issued a warning on Monday. Bitcoin "does not benefit from a legal tender unlike the currencies issued by central banks," the AMF recalls in a statement published jointly with the Banque de France, the French national bank. "Its very high volatility is proven and there are also risks of hacking bitcoin portfolios."

In 2014, the MtGox bitcoin trading platform went bankrupt after hacking $ 477 million.

Bitcoin is therefore facing a accumulation of difficulties that dissuade investors from placing money in cryptocurrencieswhich explains the recent fall in prices of these virtual currencies. It remains to be seen how far this tumble can continue. Asked about CNBC on Monday, a specialist in electronic currencies estimated that bitcoin would lose up to 85% from its peak in December 2017.