Bitcoin price (BTC) fell below $8,000 in fresh choppy trading action on Oct. 16, after several days of slow grind ended in a bearish turn.

Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360

Bitcoin greets midweek traders with $300 dump

Data from Coin360 shows the largest cryptocurrency put an end to its sideways trading style on Wednesday, falling several hundred dollars in minutes.

Markets at first rejected a more precipitous fall, with some exchanges showing Bitcoin reversing at exactly $8,000.

At press time, those levels had given way again, under pressure while fluctuating below the $8,000 barrier on local lows of $7,930.

Bitcoin seven-day price chart. Source: Coin360

Commenting, Cointelegraph contributors were unsurprised by the test of support, having warned of its arrival over the past two days.

For filbfilb and Michaël van der Poppe, the more significant lower boundary for Bitcoin lies closer to $7,400.

Current activity is thus dictated by buyers absorbing downward movements, only to increase sentiment to drive prices lower in return. Filbfilb added to Cointelegraph that all timeframes for Bitcoin trading now look negative.

“Bitcoin looking pretty ugly here,” popular Twitter trader Crypto Rand meanwhile added in further warnings on Wednesday, continuing:

“Not taking positions for now. But I would be looking to add shorts on the flag retest after the potential breakdown. Always plan in advance to avoid emotional decisions.”

Altcoins follow Bitcoin downhill

Bitcoin’s volatility meanwhile took its toll on altcoin markets. In the 24 hours to press time, many cryptocurrencies in the top twenty by market cap fell around 5%.

Leading the losses were Tron (TRX), EOS (EOS) and Binance Coin (BNB), all of which shed between 6% and 7%. Conversely, Bitcoin SV (BSV) delivered 1% gains.

Ether (ETH), the largest altcoin by market cap, traded 4.2% down at $176.

Ether seven-day price chart. Source: Coin360

The overall cryptocurrency market cap likewise fell, this time to below $220 billion with Bitcoin’s share making up 66.4% of the total.