FOREX-Euro dips from 3-year peak on policymakers' comments bitcoin sinks

    * ECB officials raise concerns about surging common currency
    * Dollar finds respite but outlook remains grim
    * Cryptocurrency rout accelerates on clampdown worries
    * Canadian dollar weakens as BOC rings cautious tone

 (Updates market action, changes dateline, previous LONDON)
    By Richard Leong
    NEW YORK, Jan 17 (Reuters) - The euro slipped on Wednesday,
pulling back from a three-year high above $1.23 as some European
Central Bank officials voiced worries about the currency's
strength.
    The euro's decline helped stabilize the greenback, which was
also supported by a weaker Canadian dollar after the Bank of
Canada struck a cautious tone on an expected rate hike on
Wednesday.
    The outlook for the dollar, however, remains dour on the
view that other central banks besides the Federal Reserve are
moving away from the ultra low-rate stance and unconventional
tools they adopted after the 2008 global credit crisis.
    "There's still a lot of bearish sentiment on the dollar,"
said Minh Trang, senior foreign currency trader at Silicon
Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California.
    Still, the greenback snapped a four-session losing streak.
    At 11:22AM/16:22 GMT, the index that tracks the dollar
against a basket of currencies was up 0.20 percent at 90.574. It
hit a three-year low of 90.341 earlier.
    The Canadian dollar fell 0.38 percent to C$1.2477. 
    The euro was down 0.16 percent at $1.2239 after hitting a
three-year peak versus the greenback at $1.2322, Reuters data
showed.
    Digital currencies suffered another day of heavy losses on
worries about a widening regulatory crackdown.
    Bitcoin fell more than 10 percent to below
$10,000 for the first time since Dec. 1 on the Luxembourg-based
Bitstamp exchange. The biggest digital currency has lost half
its value since it peaked near $20,000 about a month ago. 
        
    ECB WEIGHS IN ON RISING EURO
    The speed of the euro's rise in early 2018 - up more than 3
percent in the last two weeks - has prompted comments from ECB
officials, highlighting growing concerns, according to analysts.
    ECB policymaker Ewald Nowotny told reporters on Wednesday
the euro's recent strength against the dollar is "not helpful,"
which encouraged a bout of profit-taking before a policy meeting
next week.
    In an interview with Italian newspaper la Repubblica Vitor
Constancio, the ECB vice president, said he did not rule out
that monetary policy would still continue to be "very
accommodating for a long time".
    "The euro's strength will cause some concerns to the ECB and
it will definitely complicate their policymaking thinking, and
some investors are taking profits after the recent rally," said
Adam Cole, chief FX strategist at RBC Capital Markets in London.
========================================================
    Currency bid prices at 11:19AM (1619 GMT)
 Description      RIC         Last           U.S. Close  Pct Change     YTD Pct     High Bid    Low Bid
                                              Previous                   Change                 
                                              Session                                           
 Euro/Dollar      EUR=        $1.2241        $1.2259     -0.15%         +2.04%      +1.2322     +1.2197
 Dollar/Yen       JPY=        110.7700       110.4400    +0.30%         -1.69%      +110.9200   +110.2000
 Euro/Yen         EURJPY=     135.60         135.41      +0.14%         +0.31%      +135.8900   +135.1700
 Dollar/Swiss     CHF=        0.9603         0.9594      +0.09%         -1.44%      +0.9651     +0.9574
 Sterling/Dollar  GBP=        1.3838         1.3791      +0.34%         +2.41%      +1.3844     +1.3757
 Dollar/Canadian  CAD=        1.2476         1.2433      +0.35%         -0.80%      +1.2537     +1.2378
 Australian/Doll  AUD=        0.7981         0.7960      +0.26%         +2.31%      +0.7998     +0.7941
 ar                                                                                             
 Euro/Swiss       EURCHF=     1.1758         1.1762      -0.03%         +0.59%      +1.1801     +1.1754
 Euro/Sterling    EURGBP=     0.8843         0.8886      -0.48%         -0.45%      +0.8908     +0.8843
 NZ               NZD=        0.7284         0.7265      +0.26%         +2.79%      +0.7290     +0.7236
 Dollar/Dollar                                                                                  
 Dollar/Norway    NOK=        7.8371         7.8708      -0.43%         -4.51%      +7.8986     +7.8397
 Euro/Norway      EURNOK=     9.5951         9.6525      -0.59%         -2.57%      +9.6635     +9.5972
 Dollar/Sweden    SEK=        8.0183         8.0373      -0.45%         -2.24%      +8.0710     +8.0090
 Euro/Sweden      EURSEK=     9.8148         9.8591      -0.45%         -0.25%      +9.8716     +9.8097
 
    
 (Additional reporting by Saikat Chatterjee in London; Editing
by William Maclean and Susan Thomas)
  
 
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