Ether (ETH) prices fell to a nine-month low on 5th December, building on the losses suffered in recent weeks.

Ether, the digital asset used to power platform ethereum, reached $7, the lowest since 1st March, according to CoinMarketCap. The digital currency hit this price at 18:44 UTC, and then lingered at this price until rising to $7.01 at 19:01 UTC, CoinMarketCap data shows.

Ether prices quickly mounted a modest recovery, rising to $7.10 by 19:10 UTC.

Yet, ether experienced these price fluctuations amid modest volume, as 24-hour trading volume fluctuated between $13m and $14m when the digital currency lingered at $7.

The digital currency’s prices have been encountering headwinds as the ethereum platform has run into continued technical difficulties. Ethereum's developers have conducted three hard forks in four months, and the network unintentionally split late last month when two of the platform’s clients integrated different logic.

Sinking boat image via Shutterstock; Coinmarketcap