Bitcoin is already having a bad year.
For the first time since 2015, the cryptocurrency began a new year by tumbling, extending its slide from a record US$19,511 ($27,472) reached on December 18.
The virtual coin traded at US$13,150 ($18,513) as of 12:58 p.m. in New York, down 8.1 per cent from Friday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That's also a fall from the US$14,156 ($19,929) it hit Sunday, according to coinmarketcap.com, which tracks daily prices.
Bitcoin got off to a much stronger start last year, and then kept that momentum going, eventually creating a global frenzy for cryptocurrencies.
In a sign of its phenomenal price gain in 2017, it rose 3.6 per cent on the first day of 2017 to US$998 ($1,405), data from coinmarketcap.com show. It ended the year up more than 1,300 per cent.
