Bitcoin declined sharply on Thursday, breaking eight-consecutive sessions of gains as the recent strong rally ran out of steam.
Bitcoin slumped 8.4% to $11,816.8 on the Index by 9:13 AM ET (13:13 GMT).
Analysts have attributed a recent string of bullish factors, including regulatory approval of LedgerX’s bitcoin futures contract or mounting expectations around Facebook’s launch of the digital coin Libra, to a hefty run that took the largest crypto from just under $8,000 to slightly above $13,000 in just two weeks.
With no particularly bearish news surrounding Thursday’s fall, the slide coincided with recent analyst warnings of an imminent correction.
analyst Clement Thibault tweeted on Wednesday his recommendation to take money off the table and diversify into cash and other assets.
“More theoretical money is good, guaranteed financial security is better,” he said.
Cryptocurrencies overall were seeing a sharp selloff on Thursday, with the 10 largest coins all in the red. The total crypto market capitalization dropped to $334.67 billion, compared to $367.42 billion a day earlier.
Among bitcoin’s closest rivals, Ethereum slid 11.0% to $310.38, XRP sank 13.2% to $0.42732, Bitcoin Cash tumbled 17.5% to $427.93, while Litecoin traded down 15.5% at $117.616.
