Investing.com - The price of the digital currency bitcoin was holding below the $4,000 level in rangebound trade on Tuesday as investors remained on the sidelines following news of a broad clampdown on the virtual currency in China.
On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, Bitcoin was trading at $3,907.00 by 05:35 AM ET (09:35 GMT), down 0.51%, having opened at $3,930.00.
Prices rose 7.6% on Monday, but are still down around 17% for the month. At current prices, bitcoin has a total market capitalization of around $64 billion.
Despite the recent slump, the digital currency is still enjoying a remarkable year, with prices up almost 350% since the start of the year, beating just about every other asset class.
The cryptocurrency market has been hit by uncertainty since Chinese financial authorities this month told exchanges of bitcoin and other digital currencies to shut down trading and banned initial coin offerings.
Regulators in China have been investigating the domestic market for bitcoin and other virtual currencies since January of this year.
Elsewhere, the price of bitcoin offshoot Bitcoin Cash was higher. It touched a high of $463.90 and was last at $457.07, having opened at $451.30.
Bitcoin cash has a total market cap of around $7 billion at current prices, making it the third most valuable cryptocurrency.
Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading, Ethereum, the second biggest cryptocurrency by market cap after bitcoin, was down 1.23% to $291.95.