The price of bitcoin moved further away from the psychological $100,000 mark as investors took profits on the cryptocurrency’s gains following the presidential election.
The largest cryptocurrency by market cap was recently down more than 4%, to $90,999.30, according to Coin Metrics. Previously, it fell to $90,702.27. The CoinDesk 20, an index measuring the broader performance of cryptocurrencies, fell 4.78%.
Coinbase and MicroStrategy, equity market proxies for crypto assets, fell 6% and 12%, respectively.
“Bitcoin has been on a tear since Election Day…with very few pullbacks, but the $100,000 mark remains a formidable psychological barrier,” Mati Greenspan, founder and CEO of Quantum Economics, told CNBC via email . “While a breakout now would be a major bullish signal, a brief pullback may be necessary to gain momentum before the next attempt.”
As bitcoin steadily hits new record highs this month, long-term holders are increasingly selling larger quantities into the spot market. This selling pressure has so far been absorbed by inflows into Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, which ended a five-day advance on Monday and recorded $438 million in outflows, as well as large purchases by MicroStrategy . CryptoQuant generally defines long-term holders as entities that have held bitcoin for 155 days or more.
Traders took profits for a second day following Bitcoin’s post-election rally, fueled by optimism over President-elect Donald Trump’s pro-crypto policy platform.
“Historically, when new all-time highs are made, there is usually a period of consolidation before continuing to move higher,” Brett Reeves of crypto infrastructure company BitGo told CNBC. “We know that new institutional capital is coming into the sector and that retail activity is picking up, both through ETFs and exchanges. With positive macroeconomic and regulatory news coming, we could see a rapid recovery in l “price activity.”
Bitcoin has gained more than 30% since the US election and is up 114% this year.
