Bitcoin price plummets after Dimon calls it 'fraud', BTCChina calls it quits

BTCChina, a major Chinese bitcoin exchange has announced that it will stop all new user registration and trading on Sept. 30 due to increasing regulatory pressure from the Chinese government.

The result of this announcement, in conjunction with the Chinese government's decision in recent weeks to ban ICOs, caused the virtual currency's value to plummet nearly $1,000 within 72 hours. The price settled at around $3,300 this afternoon, down from around $4,300 early Tuesday morning, according to data from BTC Ticker.

As of this afternoon, the price of bitcoin has dropped approximately one-third since Sept. 1 when it peaked at $4967.32 on the ticker.

On top of developments in China, the virtual currency's value was also dinged by the comments of Jamie Dimon, chairman, president and CEO of U.S. banking behemoth JP MorganChase. At a conference on Tuesday, Dimon declared bitcoin a 'fraud' and said he would fire any JPMorgan trader found to be trading in the currency.

A CNBC report quoted Dimon as saying, "It's worse than tulip bulbs. It won't end well. Someone is going to get killed," in a reference to the spectacular rise and collapse of tulip bulb prices in Holland during the early 17th century, an economic bubble that ruined some European investors.