Bitcoin's Year of Toil Deepens as December Losses Mount

Eric Lam, Bloomberg News

A stack of bitcoin tokens sit in this arranged photograph in London, U.K., on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018. On Wednesday, billionaire Warren Buffett said on CNBC that most digital coins won't hold their value. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin fell in U.S. trading hours Thursday, with the largest cryptocurrency heading for a fifth month of losses as declines for December grow.

The largest digital currency edged 0.5 percent higher to $3,272 at 9:35 a.m. in Hong Kong after earlier tumbling as much as 6 percent in U.S. hours, according to consolidated pricing compiled by Bloomberg. It remains down about 3 percent for the week. The wider Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index is on a five-week losing streak.

Cryptocurrencies have wiped out $730 billion in market value from a January peak this year, according to data compiled by CoinMarketCap.com. Widespread mainstream institutional adoption failed to materialize amid ongoing security concerns and regulatory roadblocks.

Click here to read about the SEC’s settlement of a $600 million crypto case this week

A wave of bomb threats demanding Bitcoin spread across the U.S. and Canada Thursday, including New York, Toronto and other major cities. Security researcher KrebsonSecurity posted a copy of the email on its website -- the apparent scammers requested payment of $20,000 in Bitcoin. New York City’s police department said the threats were not deemed credible.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Lam in Hong Kong at elam87@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Anstey at canstey@bloomberg.net, Cormac Mullen, Adam Haigh