Bitcoin falls back

Dollar prices for the original and most traded cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, fell below $10 000 for the first time since November last year this week before recovering slightly back to around $11 000.

With prices having reached almost $20 000 in December, the bubble may technically already have burst, but the digital currency is still trading heavily at levels 10 times higher than a year ago.

Trading volumes this week reached near-record levels with $12 billion in trades between Monday and Friday, according to CryptoCompare, a website tracking cryptocurrency markets.

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Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM, pointed out that it was impossible to establish a fair value for cryptocurrencies and that most recent investors in these currencies were not looking to use them as mediums of exchange, but speculating to make a profit off the rising prices.

Announcements by Chinese and Korean authorities that they are cracking down on cryptocurrency exchanges were given the blame for the recent price collapse.

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