Investing.com – Bitcoin fell on Tuesday as traders appeared to take profit on an early session rally which saw the digital currency trade close to all-time highs.
On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, bitcoin fell to $5,610.7, down $153.8, or 2.67%.
Bitcoin recovered some of its losses to remain within sight of its recent all-time high of $5876.9 amid ongoing scrutiny from regulators.
The UK’s financial regulatory body, the Financial Conduct Authority on Monday, warned that investors were taking a “significant risk” buying assets underpinned by so-called cryptocurrencies.
Demand for bitcoin, however, remained strong as traders await the upcoming hard fork in Bitcoin creating an offshoot cryptocurrency called Bitcoin Gold, which es expected to be freely distributed to current holders of bitcoin.
On October 25, Bitcoin Gold will split off from Bitcoin to create an ASIC resistant cryptocurrency which seeks to ease the away from the current mining monopolies present in Bitcoin.
In other cryptocurrency news, Bitcoin Cash soared nearly 13% to $324.94 on signs of a surge in demand from South Korea after trading volumes spiked on Bithumb, one of the largest exchanges in the country.
Bitcoin Cash’s market cap of $6.08bn pales in comparison to bitcoin’s $93.75bn.
Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, lost 3.71% to $321.95 a day after an upgrade to Ethereum’s blockchain protocol – Byzantium – was enacted.
The upgrade is designed to enhance the network’s privacy, scalability and security.