On Thursday, the price of bitcoin (BTC-USD) plunged as some of the world's largest hedge  funds look to get involved in the cryptocurrency market.

After rejecting a critical $36,600 mark on Tuesday, the world's largest cryptocurrency slid more than 3% to $33,480 ($24,287) on the day.

Despite the fact that the coin surged at the end of June, with prices jumping from near $30,000 on the weekend to over $35,000 on Wednesday, it suffered its worst quarter in terms of US dollar performance since the bear market of 2018, and its third-worst quarter since 2014.

Other major cryptocurrencies had a similar rally before receding somewhat, with ethereum (ETH-USD) regaining control of the $2,000 level and dogecoin (DOGE-USD) breaking through the $0.25 mark.

Bloomberg originally reported the news, citing persons familiar with the situation, that Steve Cohen's Point72 Asset Management is looking to appoint a head of cryptocurrency and that George Soros' family business is currently trading Bitcoin.

Millennium Management, a competitor of Point72, has already begun investing in cryptocurrency-related futures and exchange-traded funds, while Brevan Howard Asset Management renowned macro trader Paul Tudor Jones have also begun to do so.

In a May letter to investors obtained by Bloomberg, Point72 stated, "We are evaluating opportunities surrounding blockchain technology and its transformative and disruptive capabilities." “It would be irresponsible of us to ignore the nearly $2 trillion crypto currency market.”

Following a wave of institutional support in recent months, the moves are the latest hint of established companies entering the market.

Along with Tesla (TSLA), other companies have invested billions of dollars in cryptocurrencies, including MicroStrategy (MSTR), while traditional financial businesses such as PayPal (PYPL) and Goldman Sachs (GS) have begun to handle the asset on behalf of clients.

However, cryptocurrencies were handed a major setback this week when the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom barred Binance, one of the world's largest crypto exchanges, from engaging in any regulated activity in the country.

The company has now made it plain on its website, social media platforms, and other communications that it is no longer permitted to operate in the United Kingdom and that it must not engage in any regulated operations there without prior approval.

The FCA said last weekend that “no other entity in the Binance Group holds any form of UK authorisation, registration, or licence to conduct regulated activity in the UK,” adding that “no other entity in the Binance Group is authorised, registered, or licenced to do regulated activity in the United Kingdom.”

It comes only days after a consumer warning against Binance was issued by the Japanese financial regulator. After issuing a similar warning in 2018, the country's Financial Services Agency (FSA) issued another warning concerning Binance.

Regulators in the United States and Germany have expressed alarm about the firm's prior operations.