Bitcoin prices sank Friday, dragging other major cryptocurrencies lower in the process, following reports that South Korean prosecutors raided the offices of Upbit, a major digital currency exchange operator.
Bitcoin prices tumbled below the psychologically important $9,000 to reside just below $8,600 at this writing. More severe losses were seen throughout the cyrpto universe as seven of the top 10 digital currencies by market value experienced Friday losses of more than 10%.
“The top digital token broke its streak Friday after South Korean prosecutors raided the offices of Upbit, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, renewing concerns that heightened regulatory scrutiny around the world could hurt business and dampen enthusiasm for digital assets,” reports Bloomberg.
Bitcoin On The Decline
Some cryptocurrency market observers believe that if bitcoin can make it back to $10,000, rallies fromt there could be significant. Recently, the Bitcoin Dominance Index has been rising, confirming the dominant perch of the cryptocurrency. After bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrencies are Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin.
However, the near-term view is murky, particularly with the move below $9,000, which is renewing calls for an ominous death cross on bitcoin. Bitcoin’s recent rally above $9,000 comes just a couple of weeks after the cryptocurrency committed a death cross, where its 200-day moving average fell below its 50-day line. The death cross is normally bearish, but it needs to be validated, something bitcoin did not do.
Related: A Near-Term View on Bitcoin at $9.3K
“Bitcoin’s drop is part of a broader selloff in the cryptocurrency market, which is currently worth around $380 billion, according to Coinmarketcap.com. That’s almost $100 billion less than it was worth a week ago. The Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index, which measures the performance of the largest digital tokens, fell as much as 14 percent,” according to Bloomberg.
Upbit allegedly deceived customers by falsifying data about its financial balance sheets, according to some local media reports in South Korea.
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