The leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin and other crypto-peers suffered hefty losses on Friday amid fears that U.S. President Joe Biden's plan to raise capital gains taxes will curb investment in digital assets.
Consequently, Bitcoin slumped 7 percent to USD 48,176 in a third straight session of losses while Ether and XPR suffered double-digit tumbles.
"The cryptocurrency came under fresh pressure on the Biden tax headlines," Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid wrote in a note to clients. Bitcoin, the world's biggest crypto-currency, is on track for a 15 percent loss on the week. However, the latest tumbles come in the wake of a sharp rally with Bitcoin still up 65 percent since the start of the year.
After a fake tweet from an anonymous Twitter account that the US Treasury was cracking down on crypto money laundering, the coin dropped as much as 15 percent over the weekend. Bitcoin is on track to end the week with its biggest weekly decline since February when prices dropped 21 percent before bouncing back to all-time highs near USD 64,900.
Notably, the coin has been one of the best-performing assets in recent years, with investors who purchased a year ago seeing a 625 percent return. This represents an 860 percent benefit for investors who purchased in April 2019, as per reports.
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