Irish traders ‘avoid Bitcoin bubble’

Irish financial traders may have dodged the Bitcoin bullet as the value of the crypto-currency collapses following a Chinese ruling that it is a product, not a currency.

Bitcoins are a digital ‘currency’ that first appeared in 2009 and were developed by a computer programmer using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Its value had rocketed on the back of the financial crisis in Cyprus, recently nearing parity with an ounce of gold at $1,250.

Following the announcement by China’s central bank that Bitcoins are not a currency, the price of a single Bitcoin fell to $870.