Bitcoin Bounces Around Wildly in Record-Setting Quarter

The virtual currency spanned a range of $4,400 in less than two months, a volatile quarter that followed a calmer period in 2017

Bitcoin more than doubled in price, then plunged by a third in what was a hectic three-month period even by the virtual currency’s Wild West standards.

Bitcoin surged to an intraday record high of $5,014 on Sept. 2, about twice the price on July 1 and 158% above its intraday low for the quarter, set July 16, according to news and research site Coindesk. Sept. 2, a Saturday, also marked the top of a furious yearlong rally, as bitcoin would then slide more than $2,000 before finishing Friday at $4,182, up 67% over the three-month period.

During the quarter, new crowdfunding vehicles backed by bitcoin and the newer Ethereum currency drove enthusiasm, as did growth in investor interest in Japan and South Korea. But new restrictions on bitcoin trading in China drove prices down in September.