San Francisco (CNN Business) Bitcoin is on the ropes again.

Its price plummeted more than 10% on Wednesday, hitting its lowest level in more than a year. It's now trading below $6,000, far from the heights it reached during its meteoric rise at the end of 2017.

After nearly touching $20,000 in December 2017, bitcoin's value nosedived in volatile trading over the months that followed. But it has enjoyed a period of relative stability since early September, hovering between $6,000 and $7,000.

Wednesday's drop is a sharp reminder that cryptocurrencies are still an extremely volatile investment

While some people have managed to get rich by trading digital currencies, most investors are all too familiar with their rapid, unpredictable price swings.

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