It’s no exaggeration to say that 2017 was an historic year for cryptocurrencies.
In the closing months of another politically tumultuous year, investors were offered a glimmer of hope when they saw the value of Bitcoin skyrocket from around $900 per coin (£635) to almost $20,000 (£14,100).
But in January, things took a turn for the worse: the Bitcoin bubble burst. In anticipation of a backlash to cryptocurrency trading in Asia in the form of regulations and bans -- announced a day before the crash -- new investors were suddenly reluctant to buy, while existing traders frantically tried to sell off their coins.