Bitcoin price drops 10 percent in an hour, falling below $12,000 to a six-week low

Bitcoin
Dado Ruvic | Illustration | Reuters
Bitcoin dipped to a six-week low Tuesday, as investors monitored warnings from regulators and reports of an escalated crackdown on the cryptocurrency market in China.

Other major digital currencies including ethereum and ripple were also seen falling significantly. According to CoinMarketCap data, ethereum was trading at $1,090.96, down more than 18 percent in the last 24 hours, while ripple fell almost 26 percent to $1.37 a token.

The price of the bitcoin fell below $12,000 for the first time since December 5, according to CoinDesk data. It was trading at $11,685.24 a coin at about 3:33 a.m. ET, and was down more than 10 percent from an hour earlier. CoinDesk's bitcoin price index tracks prices from cryptocurrency exchanges Bitstamp, Coinbase, itBit and Bitfinex.

On Monday, Bloomberg reported that authorities in China were planning to block domestic access to Chinese and offshore cryptocurrency platforms that allow centralized trading. Regulators will also target people and companies that provide market-making, settlement and clearing services for centralized trading, the publication said, citing unnamed sources.

Bitcoin rose slightly higher from its six-week low to around $11,992.59 at about 4:00 a.m. ET.