The value of bitcoin is fluctuating unpredictably after a tumultuous period for the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin price hit a new record high when it passed the $19,850 mark on 17 December, but Bitcoin tumbled rapidly soon after, falling to below $12,000 within days.
Bitcoin price was $14,588 as of Friday morning UK time 12/29/17, according to a popular exchange.
Bitcoin price index and value is up more than 35 per cent over last month and more than 1,410 per cent over the last year, but recent Bitcoin price swings have demonstrated just how quickly the Bitcoin Price Index can change. We give you second by second Bitcoin price updates in realtime.
Bitcoin's value fell dramatically last week, dropping by almost $2,000 in just an hour at one point, and almost slipping below the $11,000 mark last Friday.
After recovering, Bitcoin price again slipped by around $1,500 in the space of 24 hours earlier this week.
Bitcoin is notoriously volatile, and the Bitcoin price 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 Bitcoin anymore and multiple exchanges saying the huge amounts of trading is leading to problems with actually transferring Bitcoins.
Naturally, Bitcoin's spectacular rise has coincided with increasing amounts of interest, with more and more people now looking to invest.
Bitcoin also appears to have boosted alternative cryptocurrencies, such as ethereum and litecoin, which have both seen huge gains in recent weeks. Bitcoin cash is a new competitor on the scene as well.
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 Bitcoin 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.
