Bitcoin falls below $80,000, continuing decline

Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency ‌by market value, was ‌down by 6.53% at $78,719.63 at 1748 GMT ‍on Saturday.

On Friday, bitcoin fell to ⁠as ‍low as $81,104, the ‌lowest ‌since November 21, after former ⁠Federal ⁠Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh was ‍selected as the next Fed chair.

Cryptos are having ‌a rough time in what was once hoped to be a golden era of flows and friendly regulation under President Donald Trump, with the market-leading bitcoin losing a third of its value since striking record highs in October.

It traded 2.5% lower ‌on Friday at $82,300, extending the previous session’s drop and heading towards a fourth straight month of losses, its longest losing streak for eight years.

Selling gathered pace on intensifying speculation that former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh was about ‍to be anointed as Trump’s pick to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Warsh has called for regime change at the central bank and wants, among other things, a smaller Fed balance sheet. Bitcoin ⁠and other cryptocurrencies have been regarded as beneficiaries of a large balance sheet, ‍having tended to rally while the Fed greased money markets with liquidity – a support for ‌speculative ‌assets.

“As you start to talk about pulling the rug out from underneath that … all the hedges against balance sheet expansion that people have been going for – gold, crypto, obviously bonds start to sell a little bit,” said Damien Boey, portfolio ⁠strategist at Wilson Asset ⁠Management in Sydney.