The revelation that US law enforcement agencies were able to track the transfer of Bitcoin used in the ransomware payment to free up the Colonial Pipeline have caused the price of the cryptocurrency to fall more than 10% over the past two days.
Prior to the announcement yesterday, Bitcoin was selling at around $36,400. It hit a low of $31,400 before recovering some of their losses to sit at $33,500.
With the operations of Bitcoin being mysterious to most, the cryptocurrency held a strong position on those who wish to hide their transactions, using unique cryptokeys to ensure the authenticity of the so-called currency. When US law enforcement announced they were able to retrieve more than half of the ransom Colonial Pipeline paid to release its IT system from the ransomware, the vulnerability of the cryptocurrency was exposed, making it less attractive to investors.