Bitcoin heads into Christmas on a slump

The value of bitcoin over the past week, as of 9 a.m. GMT on Christmas Day 2017.Markets Insider

• A bitcoin was worth $14,090 at 9.15 a.m. GMT on Christmas day.
• The cryptocurrency has had an extraordinarily volatile time recently.
• Its value has fallen sharply over the past week, and has been declining more modestly since.

The price of bitcoin was trending downward on Christmas morning as the cryptocurrency reeled in the aftermath of its most volatile period ever.

As of 9.15 a.m. Christmas morning (GMT), bitcoin was valued at $14,090 according to data from Markets Insider.

The cryptocurrency had lost around 1.1% of its value in the past 24 hours.

The movement is a modest lost after much sharper gains earlier in the week, when bitcoin plummeted from an all-time high of $19,843.

Its value is down more than 30% in a single week after a sharp depreciation which began around December 17 and 18.

The currency briefly dipped below $11,000, shedding nearly half its value in a matter of days.

Bitcoin then rallied above $15,000, but has been sinking since.

Nonetheless, the recent spike and decline still represents an enormous increase in value over the course of the year.

A bitcoin bought on January 1, 2017 has increased in value more than twelve-fold, despite the late December drop.

Bitcoin’s value from 1 January, 2017 to Christmas Day 2017.Markets Insider

The currency is difficult to value with any objective criteria, and traditional investors remain very wary of it.

Yesterday, Business Insider highlighted a note from investment analysts at Morgan Stanley, which suggested that bitcoin may soon have a practical value of nothing.

Analyst James Faucette highlighted the tiny number, and declining, number of retailers prepared to exchange bitcoin for actual goods, which could spell a rocky future.