(Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin retreated for the first time in three days as traders begin to reduce their risk exposure with this year’s record-breaking rally drawing to a close.
The oldest cryptocurrency fell as much as 3.4% to $95,110 in New York on Thursday. It reached a record of more than $108,000 on Dec. 17. A broader gauge of cryptocurrencies comprising smaller tokens including Ether, Solana and meme-coin favorite Dogecoin was down around 3.5%.
There’s “a mix of end-of-year derisking and holiday derisking,” said Zaheer Ebtikar, founder of crypto fund Split Capital. “Markets are tagged at $100K and it seems like a level that big money is happy to clip the year on.”
The pullback came even after MicroStrategy Inc. announced plans late Monday to expand its Bitcoin buying program. The firm owns more than $40 billion in Bitcoin, making it the largest publicly traded corporate holder of the cryptocurrency.
“The market is being forward looking about MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin buys and that’s been the single biggest reason for market to go up,” said Sean McNulty, director of trading at liquidity provider Arbelos Markets. “Watching MicroStrategy news is becoming a big part of my day.”
MicroStrategy is seeking permission to increase the number of authorized shares of Class A common stock and preferred stock, according to a Dec. 23 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Such a move would provide the company, which has transformed itself from a software maker into a Bitcoin accumulator, more firepower.
MicroStrategy announced earlier this week it had purchased an additional $561 million of the digital token at an average price near last week’s record high. That marked the seventh week in a row of purchases.
Bitcoin has risen around 130% so far this year, exceeding returns from traditional investments such as global stocks and gold.
Some traders cautioned that markets could turn volatile in the coming day on massive expiries of open interest in Bitcoin and Ether derivatives.
On Friday, a record $43 billion of open interest including $13.95 billion in Bitcoin options and $3.77 billion in Ether options will expire on derivatives exchange Deribit.
“Market makers could unwind their hedges and short Bitcoin strikes which might make it a choppy market on Friday,” McNulty said.
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