Trading in bitcoin futures on the Cboe Global Markets exchange was halted briefly on Wednesday as investor interest switched from bitcoin to alternative cryptocurrencies, some of which hit new record highs.

The automatic two-minute halt kicked in after the price of XBT.1 January 2018 bitcoin futures dropped to a low of $16,230 at 1:39 p.m. EST after having traded as high as $18,120 earlier in the day. XBT.2 February 2018 bitcoin futures saw a similar price drop, with a high of $18,230 followed by a low of $16,506. Both markets had recovered somewhat as of 9:30 p.m. to trade at $16,830 and $17,280, respectively.

As investors shifted into “altcoins,” the drop in bitcoin futures was driven by a similar shift in the price of bitcoin itself, which hit a high of $17,333.99 before dropping as low as $15,821.10. As of 9:30 p.m., it was trading at $16,176.76.

Leading the pack among alternative cryptocurrencies were two of bitcoin’s biggest rivals, Litecoin and Ethereum. The price of both reached record highs Wednesday as part of a bull run that started on Friday for Litecoin and Monday for Ethereum. The price of Litecoin is up 242 percent from a low on Friday of $99.77 to a peak of $341.80, while Ethereum has gone from a price of $469.40 Monday morning to sit at $724.17, up 52 percent.

The price surge and increased investor interest saw major exchange Coinbase Inc. suspend trading in both LTC and ETH on Tuesday because of “major network issues.” Coinbase wasn’t alone in struggling to deal with the volume of altcoin trades. There were reports that both Gemini and Bitfinex have struggled, though Bitfinex may still be recovering from a major distributed denial-of-service attack from earlier in the week.

Amid reports that people are mortgaging their homes to buy into bitcoin, more warnings have been issued to those looking to make a profit from cryptocurrencies. Among the latest to warn that there are risks involved was the Bank of Mexico, which is reported to have cautioned “the public in general about the risks” associated with cryptocurrencies as they have “no backing from financial authorities or any government institution.” In Massachusetts, a state regulator warned investors not to get caught up in bitcoin speculation because it “is just the latest in a history of speculative bubbles that most often burst, leaving the average investors with a worthless product.”

Photo: btckeychain/Flickr