Bitcoin (BTC) cut back from a mid-week rally to wrap up Thursday’s trading session 2.5% lower at US$17,350.
Bulls appeared to step in with a supporting push to US$17,500 as Friday got underway, only for the coin to plummet to US$17,000 as the session continued.
If bullish momentum returns, the BTC/USD pair may be able to reclaim US$17,600, though sluggish trading volumes continue to dog the world’s premier cryptocurrency.
The one-hour BTC/USD chart shows strong selling pressure at the US$17,500 price point – Source: currency.com
Ethereum (ETH) fell over 3% on Thursday, ending the day at US$1,260, and continued falling to the US$1,200 price point on Friday morning.
Bulls tried for US$1,280 on the ETH/USD pair, but a sell wall proved too strong to break.
Across the week, bitcoin is down 0.2% and ether is down nearly 5%.
Most large-cap altcoins are also down week on week, with Cardano (ADA) extending its losses by 8% and Litecoin (LTC) off by more than 10%.
The Dogecoin (DOGE) meme coin was one of the worst performers, having dipped 15%.
Toncoin (TON) topped the charts this week, having surged more than 30%, while Maltese crypto exchange OKEx’s OKB hit second place with a 15% jump.
Global cryptocurrency market capitalisation currently stands at US$834bn, with total value locked across all decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols currently at US$41bn.
Binance head moves to calm the market
Binance head Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao has tried to assuage the market following billions of dollars worth of withdrawals from his digital asset exchange.
Amid the exchange’s “stress test”, the native BNB token remains relatively stable, having dipped by around 3.3% on Thursday in line with market trends.
BNB did attempt a recovery this morning, but selling pressure across the broader market caused the coin to fall a further 4%.
Binance’s BUSD stablecoin has so far managed to retain its US dollar peg, though the coin’s market capitalisation has fallen by around US$4bn this week.