Bitcoin (BTC) 16445.84 USD ↓
Ripple (XRP) 2.78 USD ↑
Ethereum (ETH) 997.84 USD ↓
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) 950.95 007 ↑
Cardano (ADA) 0.37665290 007 ↑
Litecoin (LTC) 107.43 007 ↑
NEM (XEM) 0.59007958 007 ↓
Bitcoin price - live updates: Cryptocurrency value rises again following heavy recent slumps
The value of the digital currency is expected to shift unpredictably. This article is being regularly updated with the latest changes
Aatif Sulleyman Wednesday 3 January 2018
The value of bitcoin continues to fluctuate unpredictably after a tumultuous period for the cryptocurrency.
After hitting a new record high when it passed the $19,850 mark in mid-December, it tumbled rapidly, falling to below $12,000 within days.
It has been constantly rising and falling ever since, and is worth $14,825 as of Wednesday morning UK time, according to the Coinbase exchange.
A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Images
A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Images
That’s a significant improvement on yesterday, when it almost slipped below the $13,000 mark. However, earlier this morning it had been worth more than $15,300.
Its value is up more than 30 per cent over last month and more than 1,305 per cent over the last year, but recent goings-on have demonstrated just how quickly the situation can change.
The cryptocurrency’s value fell dramatically just ahead of Christmas, dropping by almost $2,000 in just an hour at one point, and almost falling below the $11,000 mark.
Bitcoin is notoriously volatile, and its value is expected to continue to shift wildly.
Those fluctuations have caused problems with actually using bitcoin, with Steam recently announcing that it won’t be able to take it any more and multiple exchanges saying the huge amounts of trading is leading to problems with actually transferring them.
Naturally, its spectacular rise has coincided with increasing amounts of interest, with more and more people now looking to invest.
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It also appears to have boosted alternative cryptocurrencies, such as ethereum and litecoin, which have both seen huge gains in recent weeks.
However, there are serious fears that bitcoin has created a bubble that could burst at any moment.
Numerous financial experts are advising potential investors to avoid getting involved with bitcoin, though others are speculating that it could keep rising towards the $1m mark.
Bitcoin only exists online, has no central bank and isn’t linked to or regulated by any state.
An anonymised record of every bitcoin transaction is stored on a huge public ledger known as a blockchain.
However, transactions made with the cryptocurrency are irreversible, which makes investors in bitcoin attractive targets for cybercriminals.