New York (CNN Business) Bitcoin remained highly volatile Friday -- even as the stock market posted a solid rebound.

bitcoin XBT The price of onefell 3% in early morning trading to about $5,600 before recovering a bit. At one point Friday morning, prices had plunged as low as $3,850.

Bitcoin has plummeted 30% in just the past week. The cryptocurrency was trading above $10,000 only a few weeks ago.

Many investors have viewed bitcoin as a way to protect themselves from interest rate cuts by central banks like the Federal Reserve, ECB and Bank of Japan.

When banks are slashing rates, like they are now, that tends to weaken the value of the paper currencies that governments print.