Bitcoin sinks after Colonial Pipeline ransom recovery

The recovery of nearly all of the Bitcoin ransom paid to Colonial Pipeline hackers is undermining the perception that Bitcoin is beyond the control of any government.

Bitcoin slumped to a two-week low, with analysts pointing to a technical breakdown as well as the recovery of Colonial Pipeline Co.’s ransom as evidence that crypto isn’t beyond government control. The largest token tumbled as much as 9.9% to $31,036 in New York trading. The wider Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index fell as much as 15%, with altcoins such as Ether, Litecoin and EOS dropping more. The fact that investigators “could trace the untraceable and seize it might be undermining the libertarian, free-of-government-control case,” said Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at Oanda. The implications of that may have provoked the selling, he said.