Bitcoin traded near $20,000 on major exchanges, capping a year in which its price rose from under $1,000 amid intense retail speculation and a wave of initial coin offerings.
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Futures contracts began trading on Chicago exchanges in December, giving institutional investors a route to short the asset for the first time. Regulators in China, South Korea and the United States issued warnings about fraud and investor protection.
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The price fell by roughly 80 per cent over the following year, in a cycle that established a pattern repeated in later crypto markets.
