Bitcoin rebounded slightly in Tuesday’s early deals after yesterday’s momentary spike down beneath US$40,000.
Bears and bargain hunters are evidently paying close attention to what is proving to be a key psychological marker for the cryptocurrency.
Trading at US$42,086 this morning, Bitcoin is up close to 0.5% - at this level it remains down 9% over the last seven days and a far cry away from its all-time high of nearly US$68,000 set in November.
Yesterday’s bearish jaunt saw Bitcoin trade beneath US$40,000 for the first time since 9 August.
Fawad Razaqzada, an analyst at ThinkMarkets, believes the digital coin is currently testing a major support area, and the next few days are key for the short-term price momentum.
“It is possible that after a major dip, we could see dip buyers return here, supporting prices,” he said.
The analyst meanwhile cautioned that further short-term weakness could follow if the Bitcoin price doesn’t start rising soon.
“If support breaks down decisively then we will have to wait a little longer before prices potentially bottom out.”
Ethereum traders are seeing a similar picture. It is currently trading at US$3,115, down 1.4% over 24 hours and 17% lower than seven days ago as well as US$1,700 off its all-time high (also set in November).
More positively, meanwhile, the Chainlink ‘alt-coin’ appears to be immune from the gloomy start to the year. At US$27.67 the coin is up 18% increase over this past week.
Internet Computer, the crypto blockchain that operates at ‘web speed’ as well as serving content on the web, is also up 23% over the last seven days at US$35.66.