Bitcoin (BTC) bounced off $8,500 on April 30 after fresh volatility saw the largest cryptocurrency shed 8% in hours.

Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360

BTC price tests reclaimed support

Data from Cointelegraph Markets and CoinMarketCap showed a swift reversal for Bitcoin on Thursday trading, diving from highs of $9,440 to lows of $8,530.

At press time, support at $8,500 — which as resistance proved weak during Bitcoin’s run-up this week — was holding.

Short-term movements remained choppy, with jumps of $200 or more occurring over a matter of minutes or less.

Bitcoin 1-day chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

The action coincided with what could be speculative moves by large-volume traders. OKEx, for example, saw a string of $20,000 withdrawals in quick succession, something commentators suspected was related to maintenance.

The comedown from a day of wild gains was most likely a necessary consequence of such rapid progress for Bitcoin. On Tuesday, markets were still at $7,700, having already seen a major uptick the previous week.

Popular market analyst Michaël van de Poppe was similarly unshaken by the volatility. He told Cointelegraph in private comments:

It’s probably just a vertical move on BTC through liquidating shorts and hitting resistance around $9,300-9,500, after which stops on longs got liquidated off the people buying high, so probably just technical.

As Cointelegraph reported, big trading volumes came from exchanges, while speculative options such as Bitcoin futures remained flat.

Even factoring in the most recent correction, returns for investors remain impressive compared to every other macro asset, now including gold.