MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. Bitcoin exchange rate has lost 14.62% in one day to below $12,000 for the first time since December 5, 2017, according to the data from the electronic cryptocurrency platform Coinmarketcap. The record-breaking surge to $19,000 was on December 16.

Bitcoin is a decentralized system based on blockchain technology, which any user participating in the system can ‘mine’ (emit) by creating new blocks of the structure using a computing device.

The system’s concept was first published in November 2008 by its author (or probably a group of authors) under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin’s popularity, though, reached its peak just over the last several years.

Its emission is naturally limited, and right now, the bulk of bitcoins have already been "mined".