Investing.com - Bitcoin fell on Thursday and looks set to snap its 10-week winning streak, with fears growing that the popular crypto's path of least resistance could be to the downside. Getting back above $8,000 is likely to be a struggle.
Bitcoin fell 2.3% to $7,687, down from a high for the day of $7,861.40.
Bitcoin's plunge below the key $8,000 earlier this week, and its failure to mount a challenge to reclaim the key price level, has increased fears that the cryptocurrency would need to slide further to more attractive levels.
Many have suggested that its meteoric four-month rise, in which it saw its value more than double, has prompted some profit taking.
Earlier this week, crypto watchers highlighted that a large holding of bitcoin was dumped by a “bitcoin whale.” The decline in the popular crypto's total market cap, used as a gauge for demand, suggests that could be case.
Bitcoin's total market cap has fallen to $136 billion from its peak of about $154 billion.
The weakness in bitcoin was mirrored by other cryptos; XRP/USD fell 0.18% to $0.39700, ETH/USD slipped 1.37% to $242.52. LTC/USD proved an exception to the broad-based decline, rising 0.23% to $103.12.
The total crypto market cap, often use to gauge demand, fell to about $222 billion after trading above $250 billion at the highs earlier this week.