Bitcoin price experienced its sharpest fall in a week on Monday, losing over $500 since its all-time high of $9,771.
Bitcoin’s vertical ascent witnessed its first (minor) bump in over a week after the cryptocurrency hit a record high on Monday within reach of $10,000. Trading data on Bitfinex shows price chalking $9,771 near 06:30 UTC before steady trading stuck near those levels. At precisely 09:00 UTC, a sell-off triggered a short-lived collapse as prices fell $540, losing 5.5% in 40 minutes in falling to $9,231.
At press time, the drop doesn’t resemble a corrective course for the wider market as the cryptocurrency picked up again, trading near $9,400.
Bitcoin has seen tremendous interest as a viable store of value among retail investors this year and is now up nearly ten-fold from its opening price of $1,000 on January 1, 2017. In recent months, the value of the world’s first cryptocurrency began its current trajectory of aggressive gains after an announcement by the CME Group, the world’s largest exchange owner, to offer bitcoin futures contracts in December. The move has increased confidence in the cryptocurrency space with the expected participation of institutional investors.
Despite today’s drop, bitcoin’s rally continues to see friendly winds on its sails after the cryptocurrency took just seven days to go from $8,000 to $9,000, a milestone achieved yesterday. That thousand-point rally is now a record spike for bitcoin, beating the eight days it took to jump from $3,000 to $4,000 earlier this year.
In its current momentum, it could be a matter of days, or merely hours, before bitcoin prices reach a historic milestone of $10,000.