Cryptocurrencies witnessed a sharp decline during the trading session of Saturday, December 4, and Bitcoin, the largest currency in the cryptocurrency market by market value, fell by more than 9%, and Bitcoin fell strongly at the beginning of the Saturday session to touch levels of 41.6 thousand dollars, the lowest levels it reached since last September 30 .
Bitcoin is now down about 30% from its all-time high near $69,000 it hit in early November.

Ethereum, the world's second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, lost more than 16% in early trading on Saturday, with Ethereum dropping to its lowest level near $3,500, but paring losses somewhat after that, trading near $3,870.
The Ripple currency also fell to levels of 0.575, the lowest levels for Ripple since last July 23, before reducing these declines and ascending to levels of 0.795, recording declines of about 14%.
Dogecoin fell to 0.175 levels, the lowest level for the currency since October 21, recording declines of about 13%.
There was no clear reason for the cryptocurrency's decline.
Mutant Omicron terrifies investors
The drop comes on the heels of a volatile week in financial markets, as global stocks and record US bond yields tumbled on Friday after data showed US job growth slowed in November, and the Omicron coronavirus mutated also kept investors in a state of uncertainty.
Technology stocks were among the biggest losers on Wall Street on Friday, as Tesla shares lost about 6%, and ARK Innovation Fund lost 5% on Friday and 12% for the week.
After the appearance of the mutated omicron in a number of countries around the world, Japan closed travel to foreigners, and the United Kingdom of Britain imposed mandatory wearing a muzzle again, in addition to a number of measures taken by a number of countries to prevent the spread of the mutated omicron.
The World Health Organization said Friday that the omicron mutant has been detected in 38 countries, up from 23 two days ago, with early data suggesting the strain is more contagious than the delta mutant.
Cryptocurrencies on an important date before the US Congress
The sharp declines in the cryptocurrency market came ahead of the testimony of executives from eight major cryptocurrency firms before the US Congressional Financial Services Committee on December 8, including Coin Base CFO Alicia Haas and FTX Trading CEO Sam Bankman Fred.

Also in attendance was Brian Brooks, the current CEO of Bitfury, who previously worked as a major banking regulator under the Trump administration, and Brooks has contributed to several policies aimed at facilitating cryptocurrency for banks.
Senator Elizabeth Warren and others have called for a regulatory crackdown on the highly volatile cryptocurrency market sector.
The hearing marks the first time that major players in the crypto markets will testify before US lawmakers, with the aim of discussing the implications of cryptocurrencies, and how they can best be regulated.
Are bitcoin retracements a buying opportunity?
It seems that some may see these pullbacks as a suitable buying opportunity.
“This is the opportunity to buy on dips, especially for many investors who may have previously felt they missed the boat,” said Justin DeAnthan, head of sales at crypto exchange EQONEX.
It is noteworthy that Bitcoin has risen since the beginning of 2021 until it is trading near the levels of $ 48 thousand currently, by about 66%.