Digital currencies moved lower Tuesday, with some altcoins, smaller coins alternative to bitcoin, losing as much as 7%.
Bitcoin, the worlds largest digital currency, continues to struggle for gains above $8,500, as worries over increased regulation kept the No. 1 digital currency in check.
“The recent selloff has come from the news out of China that the ICO [initial coin offering] market is still very active and there are fears that China will further increase the strict regulation,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets.
A single bitcoin BTCUSD, -2.21% last changed hands at $8,172.55, down 2.8%, since Monday’s levels at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the Kraken exchange.
Narrowing range means breakout is coming
While gains above $8,500 are hard to come by, the support around $8,000 is holding, and as the range tightens, the probability of a breakout is growing. “The technicals are pointing to a breakout to the downside,” said Aslam. “However, my gut feeling is, and remains that the breakout will be to the topside.”
Bitcoin has spent nearly six weeks trading inside the $7,800 — $10,000 range.
Circle adds feature to bridge gap between savvy and new investors
Circle, the Goldman Sachs Group-backed startup has launched a new feature that it hopes will attract new investors into the digital currency market. The “Buy the Market” tool will allow users to specify a specific amount they want to invest and with a simple touch they will have a weighted portfolio of the seven cryptocurrencies Circle offers.
“Historically cryptocurrency has been an early adopter product. We are hoping this will bridge this gap,” said Rachael Mayer, senior product manager at Circle.
Users can invest as little as $1 using the new feature, and will mark cryptocurrencies by 1%, but won’t charge any fixed fees.
Altcoins under pressure again
It was a rough Tuesday for the smaller coins. Ether ETHUSD, -2.66% which runs on the Ethereum network, is down 5.3% to $660.95, Bitcoin Cash BCHUSD, -2.80% has lost 7% to $1,152.00, Litecoin LTCUSD, -2.13% is off 3.2% at $130.87 and Ripple’s XRP coin XRPUSD, -3.75% is down 2.6%, last trading at 66 cents.
Futures closed the day in the red. The Cboe June contract XBTM8, -2.69% finished Tuesday off 2.5% at $8,185, while the CME May contract BTCK8, -3.12% closed down 2.3% at $8,180.