Bitcoin crashes below $10k as bubble bursts

BITCOIN’S price plunged below $10,000 yesterday amid fears the speculative bubble that fuelled its meteoric rise may have popped.

The online currency dropped as much as 19pc in a fresh trading rout before recovering slightly.

Its price has now more than halved since peaking close to $20,000 in mid-December.

The latest rout was fuelled by speculation that crackdowns in China and South Korea will close two of the currency’s most important markets.

It sparked a panicked sell-off which spread to other digital currencies such as Ethereum and Ripple, wiping out £148bn, or close to a third of the value of the market as a whole.

Bitcoin’s rise has been fuelled by a surge in interest from struggling young people seeking to get rich quick. Last year it climbed as much as 1,900pc before the tide turned.

Experienced traders have warned repeatedly that this huge increase in value was unsustainable.

Bitcoin was trading at $10,096 at the time of going to press, down 11pc on the day.