Google's announcement that it would ban cryptocurrency advertising from its pages from June on the grounds that it considers it "deceptive content" was also a major blow to the sector.

Recent goings-on have demonstrated just how quickly things can change for investors.

It is worth $7,082 (£5,022) as of Monday morning, down considerably on the recent high of $11,640 (£8,414) it achieved in early March, according to the Coinbase exchange.

Its value has risen by 2 per cent since this time yesterday and is up by the same amount week-on-week. Since last month, however, bitcoin's value has fallen by 28 per cent. The latest price recovery over the weekend follows a week of steady losses for the world's most valuable cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin's rise last year meanwhile led to increasing amounts of interest in other digital currencies, such as ethereum, litecoin and ripple XRP - all of which have performed well recently - and more and more people are now looking to invest in digital currencies.