Bitcoin Joins the Stock Market Selloff

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were in retreat on Thursday, falling amid a wide selloff in risk-sensitive assets after cryptos initially gained following a Fitch downgrade of the U.S. credit rating that slammed markets.

The price of Bitcoin has shed more than 1% over the past 24 hours, falling to just above $29,000 and moving further from the range between the psychologically important $30,000 level and $31,000 that has provided the largest crypto with support for months.

“Bitcoin…

Bitcoin

and other cryptocurrencies were in retreat on Thursday, falling amid a wide selloff in risk-sensitive assets after cryptos initially gained following a Fitch downgrade of the U.S. credit rating that slammed markets.

The price of

Bitcoin

has shed more than 1% over the past 24 hours, falling to just above $29,000 and moving further from the range between the psychologically important $30,000 level and $31,000 that has provided the largest crypto with support for months.

“Bitcoin has managed to avoid accelerating the selloff, but it looks like it’s only a matter of time before it does,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, an analyst at broker FxPro.

Bitcoin rose on Wednesday after the Fitch downgrade of U.S. debt—briefly topping $30,000 as crypto bulls pointed at principles of deteriorating confidence in the financial system and decentralized alternatives—but has since fallen back. The move lower in digital assets corresponds to a slide in the stock market, where the

Dow Jones Industrial Average

and

S&P 500

tumbled on Wednesday and were set for more declines on Thursday as Treasury yields popped higher.

Bitcoin is flirting with key technical levels below its 50-day moving average, near $29,500, and is at risk of further declines. The next support level for token is at the rising 200-day moving average of $26,700 with long-term secondary support near $25,200, wrote Katie Stockton, managing partner at technical research firm Fairlead Strategies, in a note this week.

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Beyond Bitcoin,

Ether

—the second-largest crypto—dropped 1.5% to $1,830. Smaller cryptos or altcoins were weaker, with

Cardano

crumbling 4% and

Polygon

slipping 2%. Memecoins exhibited more of the same, with

Dogecoin

down 4% and

Shiba Inu

shedding 2%.