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The future of Bitcoin could be under threat because of fake news stories being peddled by the banking sector, a leading website has claimed.

News site Coingeek.com, which has recently been acquired by billionaire Calvin Ayre, claims the banks are trying to sully the industry in order to restore the “normal status quo of economics”.

Ethereum - a cryptocurrency and payment system like Bitcoin – was toppled at the hands of a fake news story earlier this year after it jumped from around $10 per ETH token to around $380.

In a ‘flash crash’, its value dropped from to $0.10 following a series of stories surfacing and causing confusion and a lack of confidence in its future.

(Image: Getty)

One such story was that Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, had died following a car crash.

The rumour was quickly squashed when Buterin himself tweeted a picture of himself on Twitter early the following day.

Another nugget of confusion came from The Times in a statement suggesting that it was not Buterin who’d written “100 per cent of the code” for Ethereum, adding fuel to the fire in an attempt to instil a lack of confidence in this ‘new’ type of finance apparatus.

Ed Pownall from Coingeek explained why the traditional financial world is seemingly targeting new types of economic instruments.

“A concept as disruptive to the banking sector status quo as Bitcoin has translated into considerable resistance to its very existence, and therefore, we know that many have an agenda to kill it at birth," he said.

(Image: Reuters)

“As a result, they feed the media, who may not fully understand the ins and outs of this very complex currency, with incorrect information in order to create doubt and uncertainty.”

Blockchain was one of the technologies to look out for in 2017, with Bitcoin the most visible implementation of the technology.

Its huge growth in value has made it attractive to investors and governments, as well as businesses, who are increasingly accepting Bitcoin transactions as payment for goods and services.

However, with the established financial system putting its might behind derailing the varying types of cryptocurrencies on the market at present, alarmist and inaccurate media in the space is rife, with damaging effects, the website claims.

Pownall comments: “As Bitcoin has grown in popularity, many publisher sites have found this to be a convenient trending topic.

“There will always be white noise and “fake news”.

“Here at Coingeek, we’re committed to providing users with an unbiased and factual platform for all Bitcoin news.”

(Image: Reuters/Getty Images)

“We believe that cryptocurrency payments will significantly rival cash payments in major countries.

The Bitcoin economy is currently valued at $70 billion, and many Governments are already keen to explore the world of Bitcoin in more depth.

Heavyweight Japan has already taken the first step in recognising the cryptocurrency.