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Bitcoin has now shed more than half of its value since the $20k high recorded on January 18, dropping to lows of just under $8,000 today in a major plunge for the token. BTC had been

hovering around the $10,000 mark for weeks, but failed to stabilise a push over the $11,000 threshold. And today, as of 8.20am on March 15, the token plunged by 13.71 percent to $7,903.

Ripple has seen staggering losses of 14.3 percent this morning, down to $0.67 from highs of $1.15 just one month ago. The three-month Ripple graph below highlights the extent of Ripple’s

recent decline - and reveals the cryptocurrency has not been valued so low since before Christmas. While Ethereum is down to $590, a loss of 14.65 percent, and Litecoin saw the smallest drop

of -10.14 percent to $156. WILL BITCOIN RECOVER FROM PRICE CRASH? Ran Neu Ner, the founder of ONchain Capital, suggested BTC could reach highs of $20,000 again in 2018. He said he was

confident that bitcoin would regain its sky-high prices this year, arguing that it is in the cryptocurrency’s nature to be volatile. Speaking to CNBC, he said: “Yeah but bitcoin goes up,

bitcoin goes down, bitcoin goes up and down very quickly.  “If you recall a few months ago we were sitting right here and bitcoin was under $8,000. “It shot up to $20,000 in less than two

weeks so this is nothing new. “We’ve seen bitcoin go up and we’ve seen bitcoin go down, we’ve seen it go down 50 percent at a time. “But it’s quite a resilient currency, commodity asset that

just keeps going up afterwards.” Oliver Isaacs, investor and influencer, told Express.co.uk: "The crypto-markets are extremely volatile and as an investor, you often have to look

beyond the initial panic of a large price drop, not let emotions get in the way and look at the long-term likelihood of a positive return. "Bitcoin, Bitcoin cash, Ethereum, and Ripple

are some of the most well-known and talked about cryptocurrencies with largest market caps. "I am a strong advocate for Ethereum and Bitcoin cash and believe the price will recover over

time." WILL RIPPLE RECOVER FROM PRICE CRASH? Right Side anchor and reporter Steve Lookner previously tweeted of XRP: “Ripple is the third-biggest cryptocurrency. It has lost 18 percent

of its value in 24 hours.  “It has lost 74 percent of its value since early January. Ripple investors have lost, on paper, $290 million in 24 hours.” The crash came after a blockchain

startup suffered a costly hack attack when home sharing startup BeeToken was hit by a phishing dupe. RIPPLE PRICE LIVE Parity Technologies is trying to bounce back and recoup $160 million

(£112 million) after a novice developer accidentally froze the funds so no-one could access them. Trevor Koverko, CEO of blockchain platform Polymath, suggested it may not be all doom and

gloom as investrors are backing Ripple because they trust the brand.  He told Forbes: "People feel comfortable with its name and the technology behind Ripple. "A lot of people are

beginning to realise how big of an opportunity there is between business and the blockchain...and that's making Ripple the early winner here."