SINGAPORE: Bitcoin fell on Friday (January 22) and was heading for its strongest weekly fall since September, as regulatory concerns and its frothy rally pulled back from the levels recently recorded highs.
The world’s most popular cryptocurrency fell more than 5 percent to a three-week low of US $ 28,800 early in the Asian session, before standing near US $ 32,000. It has lost 11 per cent so far this week, the biggest drop since falling 12 per cent in September.
Traders said a report posted to Twitter by BitMEX Research suggested that part of bitcoin could be spent twice as much to encourage sales, even if concerns were resolved later. .
“You wouldn’t want to rationalize too much to a market that is as inefficient and unconventional as bitcoin, but there is certainly a reversal in trend,” Kyle Rodda, an analyst at IG Markets in Melbourne, said after BitMEX report.
“Maybe the herd has taken a look at this and thought it looked scary and horrible and now is the time to sell it.”
Bitcoin traded more than 20 percent lower than the record high of US $ 42,000 two weeks ago, losing ground amid growing concerns that it is one of several price bubbles and how cryptocurrencies capture the attention of regulators.
At a U.S. Senate hearing Tuesday, Janet Yellen, President Joe Biden’s choice to head the U.S. Treasury Department, expressed concerns that cryptocurrencies could be used to fund illegal activities.
That came after last week’s call from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde for global regulation of bitcoin.
However, some said the withdrawal comes with the land for assets that are about 700 percent above the 2020 low of US $ 3,850 hit in March.
“It’s a very volatile piece,” said Michael McCarthy, strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney. “It’s made incredible gains and is doing what bitcoin is doing and going around. “
The second-largest cryptocurrency ethereum fell to a week-low low on Friday before rising 6 percent late in the Asian session to $ 1,177.