Bitcoin heads toward $7,000 as pain returns on gloomy technicals

Bitcoin’s in a world of pain, again.

The biggest cryptocurrency has renewed its flirtation with the $7,000 price level. The slide has helped to also send other digital assets into retreat, with Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin all lower on Wednesday.

Since failing to regain the psychologically important $10,000 level on May 4, it has closed lower in New York in 12 out of 17 sessions. The hype surrounding last year’s hottest asset class have faded in 2018, with fewer online searches and more pressure for regulators, with technical analysts saying the decline replicates the pattern seen following the collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange four years ago.

“The emotions are no different from the last time this happened, it’s just a different set of people going through it,” said Paul Day, a technical analyst and head of futures and options at Market Securities Dubai. “We could go down a long, long way.”

Bitcoin on Friday dropped below its average over the previous 252 days, roughly equal to the number of trading days in a year. This could mean that the next leg lower is already underway, with the price heading for $2,800 by the end of the year, Day said.

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