Bitcoin plunged below $10,000 on Wednesday, marking its worst two-day rout in three years, only hours before the first monthly futures contracts on the controversial cryptocurrency expired.
The most widely held digital currency has fallen almost a third in the past two days, reducing its total market value to about $165bn, on fears that global regulators will intensify their crackdown on market activity.
The falling price was accompanied by record trading on the two Chicago derivatives markets that offer trading in bitcoin futures. About $325m of bitcoin futures changed hands at CME Group and Cboe Global Markets on Tuesday, equivalent to just under 30,000 bitcoins.