Investing.com - Bitcoin retreated sharply from multi-month highs on Thursday as traders appeared to take profits on the recent surge in the popular currency.
Bitcoin fell 23.70% to $10,928 from a session high of $13,422.
The sharp fall in bitcoin served as a stark reminder of the violent swings prevalent in the crypto market, which many have long pointed to as one of the key characteristics that limits adoption of the popular crypto as a form of payment.
Crypto watchers struggled to pin down a reason for the slump, but some suggested that traders were locking profits given bitcoin's more-than-30% rally over the past week.
"Whales profit taking. Healthy pullback, even though overly volatile. Unsurprising given the prior 22% daily run higher,” economist and trader Alex Kruger told CCN.
The sharp downturn in Bitcoin was met with buying pressure around the key $10,000 level, raising hopes that a successful defense of the level may keep the bears at bay.
Still, the 14% decline in bitcoin’s market cap, often used to gauge demand, to $193 billion in just 24 hours, suggests fresh fund inflows are needed to mount another charge higher,
Other cryptos, meanwhile, followed bitcoin lower. XRP fell 3.8% to $0.40843, Ethereum slumped 20% to $294.19 and Litecoin plunged 16% to $117.30.