Bitcoin's Fall Below $300 Concerns Investors

Less than a year ago, the price of virtual currency Bitcoin peaked at $1,242 (£777) per coin.

Now (NYSE: DNOW - news) , the price of the cryptocurrency is rapidly falling, with a brief dip below the $300 (£187) mark over the weekend.

The fall comes despite a wave of hype surrounding Bitcoin, and a rising number of merchants who now accept it as payment.

According to Coindesk, Bitcoin traded at as low as $290 on Sunday, and its market cap is down to $4bn (£2.5bn) - from a peak of $13.9bn (£8.7bn) in December 2013.

Almost 70,000 merchants accept Bitcoin around the world, and more than 10 million wallets - used to store and move the currency - now exist.

But in Bitcoin forums, many investors have been panicking.

One user posted on the Reddit Bitcoin section "As the price is going down, some of us are under immense psychological stress. Please share how you cope with it."

The virtual currency - which is 'mined' using computers solving increasingly complex algorithms - has been plagued by price volatility since its launch in 2009.

It was created by an anonymous programmer or group of programmers.

Some Bitcoin owners have used social media to attempt to halt the spread of gloom over the currency.

Roger Ver wrote on Twitter (Xetra: A1W6XZ - news) : "For anyone complaining about the current price of Bitcoin, remember it has more than doubled over the last 12 months."

A year-long prolonged decline in the price of Bitcoin does not have an obvious single cause.

But uncertainty over potential regulations that could be imposed on Bitcoin in the US and elsewhere could be a factor.