Bitcoin tumbles by 15 per cent in steepest fall since futures trading

It is the cryptocurrency's steepest decline since the introduction of futures trading

Volatility remains in the currency (Alamy )

Bitcoin tumbled by 15 per cent on Wednesday after it reached record highs of over $19,850 (£14,811) on Monday.

It is the cryptocurrency's steepest decline since before futures trading was introduced on 10 December.

The digital currency is worth $16,998 as of Wednesday morning UK time, according to the Coinbase exchange.

By Wednesday afternoon it had recovered to $16,240.

The volatile currency plunged by $1,000 within an hour as signs bitcoinmania may be starting to hit a wall.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission suspended trading temporarily in The Crypto Company, a US based cryptocurrency consultancy, amid concerns over stock manipulation, according to CNBC.

San Francisco-based bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Tuesday it would allow customers to buy, sell, send and receive Bitcoin Cash, a clone of the original cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin Cash was created on 1 August when Hong Kong-based digital currency exchange Bitfinex said a minority of bitcoin miners would be “forking” to create a new version of bitcoin to make trading faster and easier.

Bitcoin is notoriously volatile, and its value is expected to continue to fluctuate wildly.

The rising interest in bitcoin has seen more people invest in alternative cryptocurrencies such as ethereum and litecoin, both of which have seen huge gains in recent weeks.