The daily business briefing: December 22, 2017

Bitcoin plunges by 20 percent in a day, Papa John's says CEO John Schnatter is stepping down, and more

A Papa Johns restaurant in NYC
(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

1. Bitcoin plunges nearly 20 percent in a day

Bitcoin plunged by as much as 21 percent early Friday, falling below $13,000 before climbing back toward $14,000 later in the morning. At one point the cryptocurrency had lost a third of its value over just five days. The digital currency was on track for its worst week since 2013 after peaking near $20,000 on Sunday. It started the year under $1,000. Bitcoin's recent volatility has fueled concerns over whether its recent gains were sustainable or evidence of a bubble. "A manic upward swing led by the herd will be followed by a downturn as the emotional sentiment changes," said Charles Hayter, founder and chief executive of industry website Cryptocompare in London. "A lot of traders have been waiting for this large correction."

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.