Mubasher: Bitcoin dropped below $10,000 only three weeks after soaring above that level for the first time in more than a year, as US lawmakers voiced their doubts about the viability of digital currencies, Bloomberg reported.

The largest cryptocurrency dived as much as 12%, bringing its three-week drubbing to 25%. As of 3 pm in New York (7:00 pm GMT) on Tuesday, bitcoin traded for $9,591, from its June peak of $12,733.

In addition, Ethereum and Litecoin both dropped by 13%.

Crypto assets was criticised during a Congress hearing, where the US Senate Banking Committee debated Facebook’s plan to launch its own digital coin, dubbed as Libra.

Comparing Facebook to a child playing with the matches who burns the whole house, the social media company came under fire during the hearing for repeatedly breaching users’ privacy, while it was accused of cheapening the social discourse and polarising the US, Bloomberg said.

While Facebook’s proposed Libra was credited with fanning bitcoin’s recent surge, such plans have re-ignited controversy on how crypto assets can be regulated.

Nevertheless, bitcoin remained more than twice the price at which it started this year, having been close or lower than the $4,000 level in the first quarter.