Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market is continuing to fluctuate after a dramatic week.
The cryptocurrency market was down as a whole on Monday, led by a dramatic 4.36 per cent drop in the value of bitcoin. Its price was around $39,700 – still a long way from recent weeks, when it was hovering much closer to $30,000.
Other cryptocurrencies were up, slightly. Ethereum was up 0.6 per cent on Monday, and some smaller coins such as bitcoin cash were trading up slightly.
As a whole, however, the market continued to be volatile. It was down 2.8 per cent on Monday morning, with much more trading activity than usual.
The new volatility in prices could be explained at least partly by reports that Amazon is considering adding cryptocurrency for payments. As first revealed in a new job listing, and boosted by recent rumours, the company looks as if it is looking at ways the technology could “enable modern, fast, and inexpensive payments”.
It also comes after comments from major cryptocurrency figures including Elon Musk helped boost momentum around the technology and its value.
During a debate with Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey, Mr Musk revealed that SpaceX also holds bitcoin – in addition to his own personal holdings and those of Tesla – and that his electric car company could soon start taking payments using it once again.
