Bitcoin price drops 4% to $22.4K after weekend all-time highs

Bitcoin (BTC) lost $23,000 support on Dec. 21 as Monday trading saw a long-awaited correction begin to take shape.

BTC price hits $22,600

Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting lows of $22,410 at press time, with 24-hour losses totaling almost 4%.

The move confirms suspicions among analysts that Bitcoin is due for a retracement after a week of near-constant gains. Traders are now eyeing $20,000, which orderbook data pains as a potentially formidable support level.

At the start of last week, the largest cryptocurrency was still at under $19,500, a level which Cointelegraph Markets analyst Michaël van de Poppe believes could now form a short-term price target.

$22,800, he added in comments over the weekend, forms a crucial area to hold in order to preserve the prospects of further upside.

Altcoins feel the pain

Major altcoin tokens saw a swift knock-on effect from Bitcoin's losses, with leader Ether (ETH) seeing a 6% daily dive.

Litecoin (LTC) was down 8.5% at press time, while XRP lost 7.4% to hit $0.53.