Bitcoin experienced its sharpest price decline in a month on Tuesday, only a day after hitting a new all-time high near $67,000.
The price of Bitcoin -- the world's biggest cryptocurrency in terms of market valuation -- fell 6% in the last 24 hours on digital-asset markets, trading at roughly $63,000 as of 17:07 UTC (1:07 p.m. Eastern) on Thursday.
The record peak on Wednesday coincided with the debut of trading on the New York Stock Exchange this week of the ProShares futures-focused Bitcoin Strategy Exchange-Traded Fund.
That launch raised $570 million in capital and generated $1 billion in trading activity on its first day, making it one of the most successful ETF launches in history.
Some market observers said Thursday's price retreat appeared to be more of a temporary fall than the start of a lengthy decline. Earlier this week, analysts informed CoinDesk that they noticed positive indicators in price charts, predicting prices of $80,000, $86,000, and even $100,000 for bitcoin.
"Long-term holders do not appear to be selling at the moment, indicating that this is most likely a correction," Lucas Outumuro, head of research at IntoTheBlock, explained.
After four days of strong gains, Laurent Kssis, director of CEC Capital, believes it is time for a reset before the next ascension. "Overall, the market remains positive," he stated.
Kay Khemani, managing director of Spectre.ai, said bitcoin's volatility is quite natural for any asset that has surged considerably over a period of several weeks to hit new all-time highs. He believes the next psychological barrier will be around the $70,000 mark.
"Trepidation is certain to set in as investors and traders alike seek to lock in their gains ahead of potential limit orders set at the $70,000 level," Khemani added.
Meanwhile, VanEck disclosed on Wednesday that it had received approval to launch its bitcoin futures-linked exchange-traded fund, which might have a similar influence on market sentiment as ProShares' trading debut.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Valkyrie Investments' bitcoin futures ETF, which will begin trading Friday under the ticker BTF on the Nasdaq.
With the debut of additional bitcoin futures exchange-traded funds imminent, there is anticipation that a favourable reception will act as a trigger, analysts said.
