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Bitcoin pips ruble as worst currency investment of 2014

The ruble may be having a bad year, but it's not the worst.

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Mark Blinch/Reuters/File
A Bitcoin sign is seen in a window in Toronto in May 2014. After skyrocketing to more than a thousand dollars in price late last year and attracting worldwide attention, bitcoin, a digital currency, has lost momentum in its quest to become a widely-accepted payment method.

I wrote a short post looking at Russia's economic and currency woes today and got to wondering about how the ruble stacks up against the worst currency bets of 2014 (so far at least).

The answer is "pretty bad." But rest easy, Mr. Putin: You're not number one. Here's a list of 2014's worst performing currencies measured against the dollar, using Google Finance data. (Yes, I know that Bitcoin isn't a "real" currency, but try telling that to the enthusiasts on Twitter.)

1. Bitcoin: -53.7 percent

2. Russian ruble: -50 percent

3. Ukrainian hryvnia: -47.9 percent

4. Ghanian cedi: -26.9 percent

5. Argentinian peso: -23.8 percent

6. Colombian peso: -20.5 percent

7. Syrian pound: -19.6 percent

8. Norwegian krone: -18.6 percent

9. Swedish krona: -15.7 percent

10. Chilean peso: -15.1 percent

Bitcoin's been on an interesting ride since its value surged last year. Here's a graph that tries to explain the psychology of asset bubbles by Hofstra professor Jean-Paul Rodrigue (explained here):

And if you click through here, you can see the performance of Bitcoin since 2013, though you'll have to set the date ranges yourself.

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