Bitcoin price plunge on reports that US Treasury planning to tackle financial institutions for money laundering carried out through cryptocurrency

Affected by the news that the U.S. Treasury Department will accuse multiple financial institutions of using cryptocurrency to launder money, on the 18th, Bitcoin fell below $52,000 each. Within a day, Bitcoin, which once stood at a high of $60,000, fell more than $10,000, a drop of more than 17%. 

Bloomberg said on the 18th that in addition to Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies also plummeted that day. Calculated by the 24-hour rise and fall, Ethereum plummeted by 20%, Binance Coin plummeted by 17%, and so on. The rapid decline of cryptocurrencies caused heavy losses for long investors. Within 24 hours, more than 470,000 people broke their positions and nearly $40 billion in funds were wiped out. 

Several reports attribute this round of decline to market speculation that the U.S. Treasury Department may crack down on money laundering through cryptocurrencies. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently stated that Bitcoin is “a bit like gold” because it is more of a speculative tool than payments. 

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde took aim at Bitcoin's role in promoting criminal activities in January this year, saying that the cryptocurrency has been promoting "interesting business". 

In addition, the Central Bank of Turkey also announced that it will ban the use of encrypted digital currencies for payments starting on April 30, stating that there are plenty of reasons to support the implementation of the ban.