Loses more than 20% amid purpor­ted profit-taking­NEW YORK: Bitcoin prices plunged by more than 20% on Friday as investors cashed out just before Christmas following the wildly volatile currency’s stratospheric rise in recent weeks. UK pushing to include Bitcoin under money-laundering rulesThe controversial cryptocurrency, which is not backed by any central bank, stood at $12,840 near 18:15 GMT from its Thursday price of $16,563. That was a decline of more than 30% from its record high of $19,500 on Monday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. After starting the year near $1,000, the digital currency soared to $10,000 in late November, and nearly doubled that just a couple weeks later. The sell-off has bled through to other cryptocurrencies such as dash, litecoin and ripple, all of which were sent plunging.

Source: The Express Tribune December 24, 2017 05:15 UTC