This week has been a rollercoaster ride for Bitcoin – and could signal an equally unpredictable future.

What happened this week?

The eight-year-old cryptocurrency has pulled in droves of investors in recent months. But this week it hit record-breaking highs, soaring over $10,000 (£7,493) in value. At the start of 2017 a Bitcoin was worth just $1,000.

And yet within 24 hours of hitting the benchmark it had climbed past $11,000 before losing nearly 20% of its value, to just barely $9,000.

This rollercoaster ride, and resulting headlines, prompted the Bank of England to warn “investors should do their homework” on Bitcoin: some say the currency is peaking and based on nothing but a speculative bubble, while others feel it could have further to rise.

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