Bitcoin slumps further after Bill Gates, Janet Yellen become latest to question the cryptocurrency’s durability

The digital currency slumped 14 per cent on Tuesday, falling below US$47,000 and taking its pullback from an all-time high hit on Sunday to around 20 per cent

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates were the latest to weigh into a debate over the digital coin

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Bitcoin has had a bad few days, sliding rapidly from an all-time high. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:19pm, 23 Feb 2021Updated: 7:19pm, 23 Feb 2021

Bitcoin slumped 14 per cent on Tuesday, falling below US$47,000 and taking its pullback from an all-time high hit on Sunday to around 20 per cent.

The slide followed a bout of volatility that highlighted lingering doubts about the durability of the token’s mesmerising rally.

Bitcoin is still up some 390 per cent in the past year.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates were the latest to weigh into a debate over the digital coin. Gates cautioned about how investors can be swept up in manias, while Yellen said bitcoin is a very “inefficient” way of conducting transactions.

In the background are jitters that the global economic recovery from the pandemic will eventually prompt central banks to dial back easy-money policies that helped propel bitcoin higher. At a technical level the digital currency looks stretched, according to Miller Tabak + Co.