Bitcoin price smashs above £3770.00

The price of bitcoin has crushed through £3770.00 to an all-time high.

The virtual currency rose by more than 8% to £3953.22 having started the year at £728.36 . Bitcoin has soared by more than 750% in the past year and is worth four times as much as an ounce of gold,but the price has been volatile. The digital currency plunged below £2261.70 in mid-September after the Chinese authorities announced a crackdown. Beijing ordered virtual currency exchanges to stop trading and block new registrations, due to fears that increasing numbers of consumers piling into the bitcoin market could prompt wider financial problems.

Jordan Hiscott, the chief trader at Ayondo Markets, said: “The returns are truly remarkable, especially given the recent ban on bitcoin trading in China, where demand had previously accounted for at least 10% of all global volumes.”

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, called this week for regulation of crypto currencies, saying their use “bears serious risks” such as money laundering, tax evasion and funding for terrorism. But he also warned against imposing where it appears to have given bitcoin a boost.

Despite warnings over a bubble, bitcoin is gaining in acceptance. Last month, a London property developer, The Collective, said it would allow its tenants to pay their deposits in bitcoin and accept rent payments in the crypto currencies by the end of the year.

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