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Bitcoin has lost more than 10 per cent of its value over the last 24 hours, causing a flash crash across the cryptocurrency market.
Ethereum, ripple, litecoin and bitcoin cash suffered even heavier losses than bitcoin, seeing between 10 and 20 per cent wiped from their values.
The latest price crash follows several weeks of extraordinary gains for bitcoin, which have seen its value rise by around $5,000 since mid June.
It’s current value of around $11,500 still remains way above the price it started the year on, though a long way off its all-time high of close to $20,000, which it achieved in late 2017.
The latest losses come just as bitcoin was about to hit a new high for 2019.
1/8 Satoshi Nakamoto creates the first bitcoin block in 2009
On 3 January, 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto detailed the cryptocurrency in a paper titled ‘Bitcoin: A peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’
Reuters
2/8 Bitcoin is used as a currency for the first time
On 22 May, 2010, the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction took place. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins – the equivalent of $90 million at today’s prices
Lazlo Hanyecz
3/8 Silk Road opens for business
Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the dark web. The Silk Road marketplace, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoin
4/8 The first bitcoin ATM appears
On 29 October, 2013, the first ever bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins for cash
REUTERS/Dimitris Michalakis
5/8 The fall of MtGox
The world’s biggest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing almost 750,000 of its customers bitcoins. At the time, this was around 7 per cent of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed
Getty Images
6/8 Would the real Satoshi Nakamoto please stand up
In 2015, Australian police raided the home of Craig Wright after the entrepreneur claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He later rescinded the claim
Getty Images
7/8 Bitcoin’s big split
On 1 August, 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the network split. The fork of bitcoin’s underlying blockchain technology spawned a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin cash
REUTERS
8/8 Bitcoin’s price sky rockets
Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin surged to almost $20,000. This represented a 1,300 per cent increase from its price at the start of the year
Reuters
1/8 Satoshi Nakamoto creates the first bitcoin block in 2009
On 3 January, 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto detailed the cryptocurrency in a paper titled ‘Bitcoin: A peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’
Reuters
2/8 Bitcoin is used as a currency for the first time
On 22 May, 2010, the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction took place. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins – the equivalent of $90 million at today’s prices
Lazlo Hanyecz
3/8 Silk Road opens for business
Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the dark web. The Silk Road marketplace, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoin
4/8 The first bitcoin ATM appears
On 29 October, 2013, the first ever bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins for cash
REUTERS/Dimitris Michalakis
5/8 The fall of MtGox
The world’s biggest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing almost 750,000 of its customers bitcoins. At the time, this was around 7 per cent of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed
Getty Images
6/8 Would the real Satoshi Nakamoto please stand up
In 2015, Australian police raided the home of Craig Wright after the entrepreneur claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He later rescinded the claim
Getty Images
7/8 Bitcoin’s big split
On 1 August, 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the network split. The fork of bitcoin’s underlying blockchain technology spawned a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin cash
REUTERS
8/8 Bitcoin’s price sky rockets
Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin surged to almost $20,000. This represented a 1,300 per cent increase from its price at the start of the year
Reuters
Cryptocurrency experts say some investors may be confused by the extreme volatility of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
“The real story is not that bitcoin fell by 10 per cent but that people are still finding it difficult to understand why this is happening,” Nicholas Gregory, founder of the blockchain firm CommerceBlock, told The Independent.
“Exaggerated volatility will remain hard-baked in cryptocurrency for many years yet. At any point, if bitcoin takes three steps forward, it cake take two, four or maybe more steps back.
“The important thing is that, long-term, the growing consensus is that people who keep the faith with bitcoin will be rewarded when it finally does break into the mainstream.”
Bitcoin has experienced extreme price volatility over the last week, trading between $11,000 and $13,000 (CoinMarketCap)
This is a view shared by Marcus Swanepoel, CEO of cryptocurrency firm Luno, who said extreme market movements for bitcoin, ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies is only to be expected, considering the industry is still only a decade old.
“At this stage in the development of altcoins, with many purely speculative buyers and sellers, there will always be a high level of volatility,” he said.
“However, it is important to recognise that over the last few months the underlying trend, as the future utility value of the coins becomes clear, is positive.”
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