Investing.com – Bitcoin fell sharply on Tuesday a day after rising to a two-week high as the popular digital currency's attempts to mount a sustainable move above $11,000 was met with fierce resistance.
On the bitfinex exchange, Bitcoin fell 8.55% to $10,648.
Bitcoin’s latest retreat comes as the digital currency neared price levels – between $11,000 and $12,000 – said to offer strong technical resistance – trading levels that trigger selling. Some also cited the move lower as a reaction to reports that the South Korea banned all government officials from holding and trading cryptocurrencies.
Following bitcoin's failure to break above the key area of resistance sentiment on the digital currency is said to have turned negative, weighing on overall cryptocurrency demand as total cryptocurrency-market cap slumped to levels last seen during the selloff in February.
The total cryptomarket cap fell to about $436 billion at the time of writing, suggesting that investors opted to slash their bullish crypto bets amid the selloff, while new entrants appeared reluctant to buy the dips.
Ripple XRP fell 5.90% to $0.91173 on the poloniex exchange, continuing its retreat after paring gains late Monday as rumours that Coinbase was considering adding the cryptocurrency to its platform faded.
Ethereum fell 4.80% to $814.53, while Bitcoin Cash fell 4.76% to $1,213.30.