Bitcoin (BTC)’s foray into the $100,000-plus zone came to a screeching halt yesterday evening when the world’s largest cryptocurrency fell nearly three percentage points against the US dollar.
It was the second day of sizable losses following a 5.6% dip on Wednesday.
At the time of writing, the BTC/USD pair was trading just below the $98,000 mark.
Bitcoin first rallied above $100,000 on 5 December before hitting numerous all-time highs thereafter, culminating in a record $108,353 earlier this week.
The coin’s historic achievement was first set in motion after the US elections in early November, when Donald Trump swept to victory over the Democrat Party on a comparatively pro-crypto platform.
Trump has since moved to appoint pro-crypto individuals to important positions, including tapping Patomak Partners chief executive Paul Atkins to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Exchange-traded fund inflows have also supported bitcoin’s record rally, with assets under management (AUM) in the spot-bitcoin ETF market approaching gold ETF AUM.
Given bitcoin’s short-term retraction, the bitcoin ETF market is now unlikely to flip gold’s AUM for now.
Despite the correction in bitcoin’s spot price, the digit asset remains one the the best-performing asset classes in 2024, having rallied more than 130% year to date.
Bitcoin’s year-to-date performance – Source: tradingview.com