Bitcoin traded in a tight range this week, which provided some relief to market participants after a volatile start to the year. The cryptocurrency was roughly flat over the past 24 hours and up about 3% over the past week, compared to a 5% gain in ether.
Some traders and analysts remain cautious despite the brief price bounce off $40,000 earlier this week.
"Price swings are all happening on wafer-thin volumes, which can amplify price movements," Q9 Capital, a Hong Kong-based crypto investing platform, wrote in a briefing on Friday. "No fresh capital is coming in and nobody is willing to sell or buy," Q9 wrote.
"Attempts earlier in the week to form a rebound are encountering more substantial selling, further indicating seller pressure," Alex Kuptsikevich, an analyst at FxPro, wrote in an email to CoinDesk.
Kuptsikevich is especially concerned about further declines in ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization after bitcoin. If momentum continues to deteriorate, he anticipates a worst-case scenario of $1,300-$1,700 ETH, which is roughly 50% below current price levels.