NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Bitcoin has spent the entire month of April trading in a no mans land. After opening at $455 on April 1, BTC/USD first fell to a low of $342 only to later rally to a monthly high of $544.90.

Prices were unable to keep the upward momentum however and BTC quickly dropped below the important $500 mark. One bitcoin is currently going for $435.50 on BTC-E and $442 on BitStamp. This is less than 5% from the monthly open of $455.

It's been a tough few months for the fledging cryptocurrency. The move up that began below the $200 mark all the way up to $1090 was largely underpinned by increased market adoption in China. After the communist establishment became increasingly hostile to bitcoin, the legs of the rally were cut off. The first ''ban'' was against using btc as a form of payment for goods and services. Next on the chopping block was access to the Chinese banking system. Add in some transaction malleability, the bankruptcyof the once dominant bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, and it's not a surprise that we're currently trading over 50% below the $1,090 peak.

Link:

Bitcoin: How We Got Here and Where We Are Going