Bitcoin Price Loses $10.5K Support as US-China Trade War Tensions Cool

Bitcoin (BTC) price was feeling the pressure Aug. 14 after a fresh downturn saw the largest cryptocurrency settle below $10,500. 

Market visualization. Source: Coin360

Trade war tensions relief lifts markets, sinks Bitcoin price 

Data from Coin360 painted a gloomy picture for investors Wednesday, with BTC/USD trailing 7.2% daily losses.

Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360

The latest in what has become a recognized pattern in recent months, Bitcoin reversed its previous successes from the weekend, when geopolitical uncertainty and fiat currency weakness in several jurisdictions pushed markets above $12,000. 

In particular, it was Hong Kong and Argentina fuelling the theory, which Bitcoin critics such as gold bug Peter Schiff took the opportunity to debunk as markets fell. 

“Now that trade tension with China has eased, the pressure on the yuan is off. Those who bought Bitcoin to speculate on Chinese safe haven buying, which never happened, are taking their chips off the table,” he tweeted Tuesday.

Tensions between the United States and China had eased slightly, with Washington delaying the introduction of some new trade tariffs, which buoyed global markets.

50/50 split on short-term Bitcoin price

Meanwhile, sentiment among Bitcoin proponents on social media remains more open to interpretation. A survey conducted by regular trader and analyst Josh Rager delivered a rare even split regarding the future Bitcoin price. 

Asked whether BTC/USD would drop below $10,000 in the short term, exactly 50% of the more than 3,500 respondents voted for and against. 

Bitcoin had seen four figures on several occasions over the past weeks.

Altcoins break with tradition to stabilize against Bitcoin

Wednesday price action meanwhile produced some surprises for altcoin traders. Normally more erratic than Bitcoin, the day’s trading was characterized by stability in altcoins relative to Bitcoin. 

Ether (ETH), the largest altcoin, lost only 1.6% compared to Bitcoin’s 7.2%, with other major coins such as Litecoin (LTC) and XRP performing similarly. 

Ether 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360

Some others, such as Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin SV (BSV), even delivered modest gains over the same period. A slight exception was Binance Coin (BNB), which shed 5%.

Bitcoin’s share of the total cryptocurrency market cap pulled back slightly to circle 67.5%, down from over 68% the day before.