Bitcoin and Ether Prices See Worst Day in Weeks. Dogecoin and Shiba Inu Tumble.

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Bitcoin
and other cryptocurrencies fell Friday, with some of the largest digital assets recording their worst performances in weeks as an appetite for risk faded in wider markets.

Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, was down more than 4% over the past 24 hours but holding above the key technical level of $45,000. Prices surged above $45,000 last Sunday and realized more gains into the beginning of this week, trading above $48,000 at points to make firm year-to-date gains. 

The move lower in the largest digital asset began late Thursday, in line with a shift in wider markets away from risk-sensitive assets such as cryptocurrencies and stocks. Bitcoin prices fell more than 3% by Thursday evening, notching their biggest daily fall since March 10, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

But even as equities rebounded on Friday, cryptos remained under pressure.

“The bitcoin rally has run out of steam and [Thursday’s] risk-off session on Wall Street could keep the pressure on cryptos,” Edward Moya, an analyst at broker Oanda, said in a note late Thursday. “Bitcoin long-term options bets are growing, but it looks like we might have to wait a while until a new catalyst emerges to take out the recent highs.”

The price of Bitcoin began 2022 around $46,200, and remains well off its high of $68,990, reached in early November.

Some in the crypto market are optimistic that the slide in bitcoin prices late this week may only be short lived.

“From a technical perspective, Thursday’s loss was a textbook move to test the old resistance (in this case, it is the area around $45,000) in order to prepare for a greater rally,” said Yuya Hasegawa, an analyst at the Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank. 

“The market does not have to be too pessimistic, yet, but the $45,000 level will be a crucial support to defend and failing to close above that level on a daily and weekly basis will likely result in a huge disappointment,” Hasegawa added.

Bitcoin’s smaller peer,

ether,
slipped more than 3% to below $3,300. The token underpinning the Ethereum blockchain network also notched its worst daily performance since early March on Thursday, but continues to trade at the highest level since mid-January.

Similar price action was seen among some smaller cryptocurrencies, or “altcoins,” with

luna
sliding 4% and

cardano
down 6%, while

solana
lost just 0.5%.

“Meme” cryptos dogecoin and shiba inu—called that because they were initially intended as internet jokes rather than significant blockchain projects — also saw losses.

Dogecoin
notched a decline of 5% and

shiba inu
was 7% in the red.

Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@dowjones.com