Bitcoin and rivals Ethereum and Ripple have suffered their biggest declines in six months, wiping billions off the cryptocurrency market.

After surpassing the $13,000 (10,100) mark in June, bitcoin quickly ran out of steam and entered a state of decline, according to data on ranking site CoinMarketCap.

Prices briefly rose at the end of October, leaping from $7,500 (5,830) to $9,900 (7,700) in a matter of hours, but then began falling once again.

In the past week, bitcoin has sunk from a high of $8,680 (6,750) to around $7,130 (5,550) as of midday on Friday.

Bitcoins rivals have also suffered big declines in recent days.Ethereumsank from a high of $187 (145) on Sunday to todays price of $146 (113) per coin, while banking-focused coin Ripplehas slipped to $0.23 (0.18) from Sundays high of $0.27 (0.21).

A total of around $170bn (132bn) has been wiped from the market since June, following mass sell-offs across the three digital currencies, reportsForbes.

A fresh crackdown on illegal cryptocurrency exchanges in China may have triggered this weeks price drops.

Earlier this month, Chinese state-run newspaper Xinhua ran a front-page article hailing bitcoin as a success, after President Xi Jinping described plans to launch Chinas own digital currency as an important breakthrough, The Independent reports.

The superpower has taken a hard line towards cryptocurrencies and banned bitcoin in September 2017.

But Beijings change of tone seemed to fuel an increase in trading activity on illicit platforms, resulting in a fresh crackdown on illegal exchanges, says the news site.

The Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) has warned that it will take decisive action against any illegal activity around virtual currency trading, while cautioning investors not to confuse bitcoin with blockchain - the technology that underpins cryptocurrencies.

Jamie Farquhar, a portfolio manager at London-based crypto investment firm NKB Group, told Reutersthat the PBOCs crackdown on illicit digital currency trading suggests that Chinas acceptance of the technology is unlikely to include bitcoin.

Its the realisation that the positivity over Xis blockchain announcement was exaggerated, he told the news site. It may not include bitcoin at this point.

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Bitcoin price: why the digital coin is suffering its biggest fall in six months - The Week UK