Revelations about the US government's internet surveillance programme Prism appear to have sent the price of bitcoins plummeting.
Specifically, the unveiling on 9 June of 29-year-old Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, as the source of the leak coincided with a sudden drop in the value of bitcoins, as this CoinLab article details.
Like any freely traded commodity, the change in Bitcoin price reflects the sentiments of the market, individuals buying and selling the goods.
The price has since recovered slightly, but with some misguidedly suggesting Bitcoin as a Prism-proof way of conducting transactions, the sell-offs could be a sign that users are concerned about the US government's ability to track their bitcoins.
Despite the popular misconception, Bitcoin is not truly anonymous. Granted, it's easier to trace a purchase made using a debit card and Amazon.com than one made using bitcoins, but as some businesses are discovering, the bitcoin infrastructure relies on public metadata about transactions. Metadata that could be used to help identify you.
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