Bitcoin  drops to $4,000 amid Panic Sell after China ICO Ban

Bitcoin price has now dropped 20% toward $4,000, three days after hitting an unprecedented record high of $5,000over the weekend.

The price of bitcoin hits a two-week low in a decline following China’s ban on initial coin offerings (ICOs), a radical new form of fundraising where digital tokens are exchanged for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Ethereum.

The early hours of Tuesday saw bitcoin value drop near $4,000, trading at figures unseen since August 22^nd. At Bitstamp, bitcoin’s value dropped to $4001.9 during the fall while a global average between exchanges leveled around the $4,050 figure.

Chinese exchanges experienced more dramatic falls with trading on ‘big three’ exchange OKCoin falling to a low of CNY22,550, roughly $3,400.

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Data from CoinmarketCap reveals a significant sell-off in multiple markets around the world

At the time of publishing, bitcoin prices are showing an upward recovery in trading above $4,300.

Over the last 24 hours, the Japanese market overtook China in trading activity with the latter currently seeing a small premium on prices. In China, bitcoin’s value is recovering but presents arbitrage opportunities to traders at $4,014, on average.

The drop-off comes amid a widespread market retreat as the combined market cap of cryptocurrencies drops to $145 billion, as China’s call to ban ICOs wipes out nearly $35 billion off the market from the all-time high of $179 billion on Saturday.