Bitcoin falls below $8k for the first time since June; analysts blame lukewarm response to NYSE owner's futures

Bitcoin

After a steep fall of nearly 15 percent on September 24, Bitcoin failed to recover today with some analysts ascribing the weakness to investors' lukewarm reception for a futures product from the owner of the New York Stock Exchange.

The biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, fell to a 3-1/2-month low on Tuesday, a day after the launch of Bakkt's bitcoin futures.

Bakkt, a cryptocurrency platform affiliated with the Intercontinental Exchange Inc, listed the new Bakkt Bitcoin futures contracts on September 23. But volume was underwhelming, analysts said.

ICE is owned by the New York Stock Exchange.

Bitcoin was last down 12.86 percent at $8,436. Earlier, it had hit $7,998, the lowest level since mid-June.

Bitcoin has been on a downtrend in recent weeks. Since early August, it has plunged about 35 percent.

Some market participants said bitcoin's fall was partly due to technical factors, noting that the digital currency has been trading in a descending triangle, a bearish signal.

Bakkt futures not having taken off as expected also does not help, analysts said, even though it is still early. Bakkt was one of the main catalysts cited for bitcoin's massive bull run earlier in the year.

"So what we've got here is a classic case of buying the rumour and selling the news," Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at social trading platform eToro, said in a note.