BITCOIN price LIVE: Bitcoin bounces back after bubble fears spark sharp sell-off

THE PRICE of Bitcoin is steadily rising after fears of a bubble sparked a sales surge causing wild price swings over the Christmas period.

8.39am - Coin rising after stormy Christmas

Bitcoin is up at $16173 (£12076) at the start of the day after crashing down to just above $12000 on the Friday before Christmas.

It has been a tough for crypto wallet holders over the Christmas weekend with prices rising in falling for four consecutive days. Holders flooded the market before Christmas as fears began to sound that the December bubble was about to burst.

We're still a long way from the mid-December peak of nearly $20,000 but the general trend for the year is still one of rapid rise having begun 2017 at just above $1,000.

However more bad news has arrived this morning with the Israeli Securities Agency saying that it would bar companies trading in bitcoin from operating on the Tel Aviv stock exchange and investigate how to regulate the digital currency because of concerns about volatile prices.

Shmuel Hauser, director of the Israeli watchdog said: “I think it looks like a bubble, smells like a bubble, acts like a bubble and feels like a bubble”.