By Sameer Manekar
(Reuters) – fell to a two-month low on Thursday, extending a month-long slide, as uncertainty over the U.S. presidential election and reports about the supply of bitcoins from a defunct crypto exchange weighed on Tokyo.
Bitcoin fell more than 2% to $57,843, the lowest since May 2, and has lost more than 6% so far this week.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency has been under pressure in recent months and its decline accelerated this week after the first debate between US presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump raised the specter that Biden would be replaced as the candidate.
“If he (Biden) needs to be replaced, and there is a lot of talk about that, then that person may not be pro-crypto,” said Josh Gilbert, market analyst at digital brokerage eToro.
Bitcoin got off to a strong start to the year after the launch of exchange-traded funds in the US, sending it soaring to a record $73,803.25 in mid-March as investors flooded in. However, the rally has weakened, with Bitcoin losing more than 21% since then. .
A politically charged backdrop, with ongoing elections in France and Britain, results in some risk reduction, according to analysts, in addition to the changing odds in the US election campaign.
Analysts also pointed to reports that Mount Gox, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange before it closed in 2014, is paying back its creditors, which could drag Bitcoin lower if those creditors lose their tokens.
“It’s expected that some of those original buyers of bitcoin will start selling into the market, which is a pretty big chunk,” said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG.
However, Sycamore added that while this was a period of consolidation for the cryptocurrency after strong gains earlier this year, it could retest the March highs and likely rise to $80,000.
Ether, another major cryptocurrency, was trading more than 1% lower at $3,213.0 and is down more than 22% from mid-March highs.
