The fact that bitcoin is endowed with a somewhat volatile nature does not come as a surprise to cryptocurrency enthusiasts, who saw it soar beyond $1,000 in late 2013, only to see it diminish in value again throughout 2014, and drop a further 40% at the beginning of this year.
What happened in the early hours of yesterday, however, caused shockwaves far beyond the bitcoin community. The price crashed from $224 at midnight to around $175 (a drop of almost 22%) in just a matter of hours, before rebounding again.
Unsurprisingly, the drop in value has set off a whirlwind of conversation about the future of bitcoin, both from within and outside the community.
Twitter was awash with comments throughout the whole of yesterday, as bitcoiners and commentators pondered the causes and potential ramifications of the drop.
The mainstream media has also reacted, acknowledging the extreme price movements and predicting the potential effect on the cryptocurrency's future with varying degrees of level-headedness or hysteria.
So, what did they say? CoinDesk has rounded some up of the top headlines from yesterday.
The moderate view
Unsurprisingly, there was no real consensus across publications. While some prophesied that the future of bitcoin was bleak, others took more measured views.
The New York Times ran with, "As Bitcoin's Price Slides, Signs of a Squeeze", in which Sydney Ember commented that confidence was dwindling, and stating that "some mining companies have started to flash the warning signs."
As the price of bitcoin drops, and difficulty stays relatively high, mining companies are left to assess their dwindling profit margins.
Mashable's Seth Fiegerman explained that CEX.io, which runs a cloud mining service, had been "forced to suspend operations due to the declining prices presumably cutting into profit margins".
The Guardian's piece, titled "Bitcoin price plunge sparks new crash fears", distinguishes between what is currently happening from what occurred in the summer of 2011 and 2013:
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