Picture used for illustrative purposes only.

An already dramatic crash in the crypto markets has become yet more drastic, with bitcoin and other digital currencies losing hundreds of billions of dollars from their value.

Bitcoin has now fallen 16.8 per cent over the last week. Other coins have seen even more dramatic losses: ethereum is now down 25 per cent.

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That follows what was already the worst start of the year for bitcoin in history. After hitting a record high of almost $68,000 in November, it is now worth under $36,000.

Bitcoin’s price had already taken a major hit on Thursday night into Friday, when it fell from around $43,000 to around $38,500. But that plunge continued even more early on Saturday morning, taking it to a low of $35,140, according to the Independent.

Anyone who bought bitcoin at the start of the year has now seen it lose more than 23 per cent of its value, in just three weeks.