As bitcoin’s recent sell-off accelerates, some technical indicators are pointing to further pain ahead.

The largest cryptocurrency’s slide snowballed on Monday, with the price dropping as much as 5% to test the key US$8 000 level, which it hasn’t breached since the end of October. Bitcoin also bounced off its 200-day moving average line — a drop below it could trigger a sell signal.

The digital currency slumped after China took steps to crack down on the space. While the Asian nation said it may start to embrace the blockchain technology that supports cryptocurrencies, it has since taken fresh steps to curb trading.

Watchdogs in Shanghai in recent days issued notices calling for a clean-up of companies involved in trading of digital assets, while one in Beijing warned against illegal exchange operations. In addition, the official accounts of exchange operator Binance and blockchain platform Tron were suspended by Weibo last week.

Bitcoin was down 3.3% as of 3.41pm in New York on Monday to trade around $8 177 and has dropped nearly 11% this month, data compiled by Bloomberg shows. Peer coins including dash and ether also retreated, with the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index losing close to 3%. — Reported by Vildana Hajric, with assistance from Kenneth Sexton, (c) 2019 Bloomberg LP