Bitcoin sinks further; Most altcoins enter negative territory for the week
Bitcoin fell for a second straight day Thursday, putting a lid on the recent euphoria that had some pundits eyeing $8,000 and beyond.
One bitcoin BTCUSD, +1.28% was last worth $6,913.85, down 1.8% since Wednesday at 5 p.m. on the Kraken crypto exchange.
After two winning sessions to begin the week, the No. 1 digital currency has erased more than 3% from Wednesday’s highs, confirming that those shorting the cryptocurrency, or betting that it will decline, are still in control.
“Bitcoin is still holding the upper end of the range,” said Lennon Sweeting, director of institutional trading at Coinsuqare Capital. “A lot of what we saw [over the last two days] was short covering, but at the end of the day, shorts are still at elevated levels and we haven’t seen the bear market turn yet.”
Sweeting added that the $6,500 level should provide some solid support.
Most altcoins enter negative territory for the week
Altcoins, or smaller coins that are alternatives to bitcoin, were trading lower Thursday, and most entered negative territory for the week.
Ether ETHUSD, -1.04% , which was down more than 5% at one stage, trimmed its losses, last trading at $285.46, down 1.6% on the day. Elsewhere, bitcoin cash BCHUSD, +0.65% was off 3.2% on the day at $538.80, Litecoin LTCUSD, +0.77% was off 2.7% at $60.28, and Ripple’s XRP coin XRPUSD, +0.26% was the worst-performing altcoin, trading down 3.9% at 33 cents.
Bitcoin futures finished lower for the second day running. The Cboe Global Markets Group Inc.’s September contract XBTU8, +2.19% finished trading down 2.4% at $6,840, while the CME Group Inc. August contract BTCQ8, +2.57% closed Thursday down 2.6% at $6,815.
Source: MarketWatch – Bitcoin sinks further; short sellers are still in control, says trader
