Bitcoin traded in a wide range of 10% after hitting a high and a low of $34,893.98 and 31,491.66, respectively, during the last 24 hours. The crypto asset was trading 3.66% lower at $32,119 at around 11.15 am (IST) on Tuesday, as per data available with crypto exchange WazirX.
The fall came amid the US Senate confirming Janet Yellen as the next Treasury chief. The former Federal Reserve Chairperson had last week commented that cryptocurrencies are used for illegal activities, stoking fears that the Joe Biden administration might crack down on cryptocurrencies.
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Bitcoin, which is the biggest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of over $600 billion, has given a return of around 9% on a year-to-date (YTD) basis.
“This week is very interesting when we see the price of bitcoin. Whatever used to happen with retail investors is happening now for institutional ones, as we have seen some of them cashing out and booking profits because the market was moving sideways. The sentiment among both retail and institutional investors towards the crypto market looks bullish while many experts predict a price correction soon. The question remains about when it is going to happen and at what price range,” said Sathvik Vishwanath, co-founder and chief executive officer of Unocoin.
Other major cryptocurrencies such as ether, stellar and ripple also traded in the red with a fall of 6.23%, 5.15% and 3.56%, respectively, on Tuesday morning.
Ether had earlier in the session hit a fresh all-time high of $1,475, but pared gains later. The cypto asset is up 82% on a YTD basis.
“Ether prices have picked up quite a bit since the last few days and reached its fresh all-time high of $1,475 on Tuesday, and some of it can be attributed to institutional investors who booked some profits in bitcoin,” added Vishwanath.
On the other side, the most traded crypto, tether, traded marginally in the green with a rise of 0.08% at $1.
