Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies traded mostly lower with most of the largest digital coins all adding to weekly losses as bitcoin, once again, dropped below $10,000.
Total cryptocurrency market capitalization fell to $272.46 billion by 10:42 AM ET (14:42 GMT), compared to $275.60 billion a day earlier and $286.48 billion a week ago.
Bitcoin fell 2.3% to $9,800.8 by 10:50 AM ET (14:50 GMT) on the Investing.com Index, after having spent most of the week wavering back and forth across the $10,000 psychological level. Bitcoin is down 5.9% in the last seven days and has closed below $10,000 for four consecutive sessions.
Bitcoin’s three closest rivals also saw weekly losses. Ethereum dropped 2.6% to $214.3, down 1.2% on the week. XRP was little changed at $0.31535, off 0.2% in the last seven days, while Litecoin traded down 1.4% to $92.642, extending weekly losses to 4.1%.
Bitcoin Cash, the fifth-largest alt coin, was a notable exception among the largest cryptocurrencies, trading up 2.7% for a weekly gain of 2.8%.
No particular news item was attributed to the move lower, although the to Chaikin Money Flow indicator showed that bullish momentum in the largest digital coin by market cap had weakened to five month lows, according to a report from CoinDesk.
The indicator, which incorporates both prices and trading volumes to gauge trend change and trend strength, dropped to 0.02 on the three-day chart, barely holding in positive territory, which is indicative of a bullish bias.
Cryptocurrencies have been under pressure as regulators from the U.S. to India have been increasing scrutiny of digital assets.
In the U.S., the Internal Revenue Service began sending letters to taxpayers it suspects of holding cryptocurrencies in an apparent attempt to push recipients into paying their taxes on any gains they make from digital coins, according to Forbes.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also said this week that new rules for cryptos, including tighter scrutiny, were likely on the way.
India was also reportedly once again considering a blanket ban on all cryptocurrencies.
In more positive news for digital coins, Hrvatska Posta, the Croatian post office, is performing a trial of crypto-to-fiat exchanges.
“Over the past few years, cryptocurrencies have developed more and more users, and Croatia will, with its network of 1,016 post offices, surely contribute to their popularity,” Hrvatska Post said in the announcement on Thursday.