Bitcoin Touches Four-Week Low as $25,000 Becomes the Fresh Focus

Bitcoin reached an almost four-week low, with the cryptocurrency continuing to lose momentum since breaking above $30,000 earlier this month for the first time since June.

The original digital currency was little changed on Monday after earlier falling as much as 1.9% to $26,989. That was the first time the price was below $27,000 since March 28. Other digital assets were mostly flat to higher, with Ether little changed and Avalanche up about 2%.

Crypto-related stocks also extended their slide from last week. Coinbase, the biggest US digital exchange, has slumped for six straight trading sessions since Bitcoin hit its recent high of around $31,000 on March 14. MicroStrategy retreated for a fourth day.

There has been some “overheating” of the market, said Aya Kantorovich, co-founder of blockchain startup Fractal. After Bitcoin hit a resistance point at $30,000, some traders also took “small realized gains off the table,” she said.

“At this point the pullback is still viewed as nothing more than a correction within what has become a more constructive outlook since breaking back above $25,000,” Joel Kruger, a market strategist at LMAX Group, said in a direct message.

“We’ll look for any additional setbacks to be well-supported into the $25,000 area ahead of the formation of the next higher low and fresh upside extension back through $30,000 and to new yearly high,” he added.

Ether has also lost momentum since a long-touted software upgrade in the middle of last month. It fell last week for the first time in four weeks.

“This most recent selling is more ETH-led and BTC pulled down as a result of beta,” Shiliang Tang, chief investment officer of digital-asset investment firm LedgerPrime, said in a direct message. Tang pointed out that after Ethereum blockchain completed its so-called Shanghai, or Shapella, upgrade, some Ether tokens were up for sale when they were withdrawn from being offered to help operate the network in exchange for rewards.

Bitcoin reached an almost four-week low, with the cryptocurrency continuing to lose momentum since breaking above $30,000 earlier this month for the first time since June.

The original digital currency was little changed on Monday after earlier falling as much as 1.9% to $26,989. That was the first time the price was below $27,000 since March 28. Other digital assets were mostly flat to higher, with Ether little changed and Avalanche up about 2%.

Crypto-related stocks also extended their slide from last week. Coinbase, the biggest US digital exchange, has slumped for six straight trading sessions since Bitcoin hit its recent high of around $31,000 on March 14. MicroStrategy retreated for a fourth day.

There has been some “overheating” of the market, said Aya Kantorovich, co-founder of blockchain startup Fractal. After Bitcoin hit a resistance point at $30,000, some traders also took “small realized gains off the table,” she said.

“At this point the pullback is still viewed as nothing more than a correction within what has become a more constructive outlook since breaking back above $25,000,” Joel Kruger, a market strategist at LMAX Group, said in a direct message.

“We’ll look for any additional setbacks to be well-supported into the $25,000 area ahead of the formation of the next higher low and fresh upside extension back through $30,000 and to new yearly high,” he added.

Ether has also lost momentum since a long-touted software upgrade in the middle of last month. It fell last week for the first time in four weeks.

“This most recent selling is more ETH-led and BTC pulled down as a result of beta,” Shiliang Tang, chief investment officer of digital-asset investment firm LedgerPrime, said in a direct message. Tang pointed out that after Ethereum blockchain completed its so-called Shanghai, or Shapella, upgrade, some Ether tokens were up for sale when they were withdrawn from being offered to help operate the network in exchange for rewards.