Is Bitcoin slowly falling down?

After a ridiculously long run, in which Bitcoin broke record after record, it seems like the world’s most popular cryptocurrency is finally slowing down a bit. This Wednesday, after a series of troubling developments, the price dropped slightly below $17,000 in early trade.

The coin managed to recover some ground, but its price remains significantly lower, according to Business Insider. The losses were roughly 3% around 9.10 a.m. GMT, as Bitcoin was trading at $17,026.55.

Coinbase, the cause of this new price?

This recent price fall comes after Tuesday’s news, claiming that Coinbase, one of the biggest cryptocurrency trading platforms in the world, was expected to allow the trading of Bitcoin Cash. The latter was launched earlier this year, as a spinoff of the cryptocurrency it’s based on.

Just a few hours after cash started trading on Coinbase, the process was suspended, after the price spiked, raising concerns about a possible insider trading process, conducted by people who had insights about this, before the official announcement was made.

“Given the price increase in the hours leading up the announcement, we will be conducting an investigation into this matter,” said Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong. “If we find evidence of any employee or contractor violating our policies — directly or indirectly — I will not hesitate to terminate the employee immediately and take appropriate legal action,” he added.

Bitcoin can have a huge impact on industries!

Even more, this Wednesday, a study from Australia revealed that almost 50 percent of the overall Bitcoin transactions are related to buying and selling illegal goods and services.

The group of researchers found that the blockchain technology behind Bitcoin can actually revolutionize many industries.

“But this sort of illegal activity risks stunting the adoption of this technology and limiting the potential benefits to society,” Professor Talis Putnins, the leader of the group, said.

In other news, despite Bitcoin’s price fall, the total market cap of cryptocurrencies managed to pass $600 billion. This number is expected to grow, though, as many smaller currencies are now starting to gain serious territory.