Bitcoin slides toward $90,000 as ETFs end a positive streak

The price of bitcoin price retreated further from the psychologically important $100,000 milestone, as investors booked profits from the cryptocurrency’s post-U.S. election gains.

The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was last lower by more than 3% at $91,596.99, according to Coin Metrics. Earlier, it fell as low as $91,433.54. The CoinDesk 20, an index measuring broader crypto market performance, fell nearly 6%.

Coinbase and MicroStrategy fell 5% and 12%, respectively.

“Bitcoin has been on a tear since Election Day … with very few pullbacks, but the $100,000 mark remains a formidable psychological barrier,” Mati Greenspan, founder of Quantum Economics, told CNBC by email. “While breaking through now would be a major bullish signal, a brief pullback may be needed to gather momentum before the next attempt.”

With bitcoin regularly hitting new records this month, long-term holders have been selling in the spot market in increasing amounts. That sell pressure has so far been absorbed by inflows in to bitcoin ETFs, which ended a five-day streak Monday and logged $438 million in outflows, and large purchases by MicroStrategy. CryptoQuant typically defines long-term holders as entities that have held bitcoin for 155 days or more.

Traders took profits after the bitcoin’s post-election rally, which has been fueled by optimism about President-elect Donald Trump’s pro-crypto policy platform.

“Historically, when new all-time highs are reached there is typically a period of consolidation before further moves up,” Crypto infrastructure firm BitGo’s Brett Reeves told CNBC. “We know that new institutional money is coming into the space and retail activity is picking up, both via ETFs and exchanges. With positive macro and regulatory news ahead, we could see a quick pick up in price activity.”