Bitcoin approaches second straight weekly loss amid negative sentiment

Bitcoin rose in spot trading on Friday, for the first time in 5 days, in attempts to recover from a 5-month low, but still heading for its second straight weekly loss, on increased concerns over the future of the crypto industry after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's testimony before the US congress about his forthcoming cryptocurrency project "Libra".

At Bitstamp exchange, Bitcoin rose by 0.8% or $58 to $7,485, after it opened at $7,427, with a session-low of $7,393.  

Bitcoin fell by 0.5% yesterday, its fourth straight daily loss after it posted a 5-month low of $7,293 in the previous day on massive sell-off activity.

The total market cap of cryptocurrencies rose $1 billion today, to a total of $206 billion, as Bitcoin and most other major cryptos rebounded.

The crypto cap fell to lowest level since last May at $203 billion, amid the negative market sentiment, especially after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's testimony before the US congress.

During this week, Bitcoin lost 9% so far, to head for its second straight weekly loss, due to slow investment demand levels, and the withdrawals of large quantities of Bitcoin to external portfolios.

In the latest signs of the sharp drop in investment demand on Bitcoin, its dominance over crypto market trading also fell to 66.5%, nearly a 3-month trough.

Several news reports showed that a major player in the crypto market withdrew about 1,537 BTC ($12.2 million) from Coinbase exchange to an external wallet.

BeInCrypto reported previously that a Bitcoin whale withdrew about 1,000 BTC or $8 million from Bitstamp to an external wallet, and last week a withdrawal of 650 BTC ($5.3 million) from Coinbase also occurred.

Facebook Founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, testified on Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee about his plans to launch the cryptocurrency Libra.

Mark stated that the Libra is a risky project, but tried to ease the regulatory concerns of the skeptical US lawmakers, claiming that it could lower the cost of electronic payments and open up the global financial system to more people.

Mark seemed less optimistic about the future of the Libra launch after the strong opposition against it, and emphasized that it won't launch anywhere in the world until it gets all the US regulators approval.

Which led many to believe that the vicious opposition to the Libra and its official launch, are a severe blow to the crypto industry, to stoke the lingering doubts about the future of Bitcoin and the other major cryptos.