Bitcoin traded lower Thursday afternoon, on track to log its sixth losing session over the past seven.
A single bitcoin BTCUSD, +0.45% was changing hands at $3,429.68, down 1% since Wednesday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the Kraken crypto exchange. Having opened the year near $3,700, the cryptocurrency is set to kick off the year with a losing month.
What are analysts saying
“Bitcoin appears to have stabilized again following a couple of volatile months that saw it once again come under pressure. The last few weeks has seen it trading in much tighter ranges but at the same time, it has continued to drift lower which only reaffirms my view that darker days still lie ahead,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.
“If we can see a break above $4,500, it would suggest near-term downside risks have abated and bring $6,000 back into focus but as it stands, momentum remains with the bears on this one.”
Altcoins and futures
Altcoins — the collective group of coins other than bitcoin — are moving lower with bitcoin on Thursday. Ether, ETHUSD, +0.36% was down 2% at $105.16, Litecoin LTCUSD, +2.12% fell 1.1% to $31.01, Bitcoin Cash BCHUSD, +1.58% is down 2.8% at $112.30 and XRP, XRPUSD, -0.59% was trading 3% lower at 31 cents.
The broad-based decline has the total value of all cryptocurrencies at $113.3 billion, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Futures finished the session lower on Thursday. The Cboe Global Markets February contract XBTG9, +0.59% closed down 0.4% at $3,395, while the CME Group February contract BTCG9, +0.44% lost 0.7% to $3,385.