Bitcoin
and other cryptocurrencies were under pressure Thursday following days of declines. Amid thin volumes during the holiday period, cryptos looked vulnerable to a slide as a significant number of traders held bearish bets.
The price of Bitcoin has fallen less than 1% over the past 24 hours to below $16,600. The largest crypto is near the bottom of its $16,500 to $17,000 trading range that has held for much of the past two weeks. Bitcoin remains above its two-year low near $15,500, hit at the peak of panic selling amid the bankruptcy of crypto exchange FTX, but has also failed to consolidate gains from brief spikes above $17,000 and even $18,000.