5 min readBitcoin has fallen below $116,000, amid profit-taking, movement by whales, and a show of caution ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve interest rate decision.
After reaching an all-time high of 123k last week, BTC is now trading 6% lower, in a sign that the recent rally has lost momentum, at least in the near term.
Other altcoins were subdued after falling sharply on Thursday. Although the likes of ETH, XRP, and SOL were still on track to book gains across the week, the cryptocurrency market cap has fallen a further 1.3% over the past 24 hours. However, the Fear and Greed Index is at 70, in Greed territory, suggesting that the market could return to buying soon.
Liquidations rise
The move lower in Bitcoin sparked a wave of liquidations across the crypto market. According to CoinGlass data, £585.86 million in long positions were liquidated, with Bitcoin accounting for $140.06 million. ETH saw $104.76 million in longs liquidated as the price fell to $3598 and leverage was flushed out.
BTC ETFs return to inflows
Bitcoin came under selling pressure amid profit-taking and from BTC ETF outflows, although the return of net inflows on Thursday could help limit the downside. Spot BTC ETFs saw $226.6 million, ending a three-day losing streak. Spot BTC ETFs are on track to book outflows of $58.6 million so far this week, ending six straight weeks of inflows.
Whales raise sell-off concerns
News Galaxy Digital transferred a massive 17.123 BTC worth $1.98 billion to multiple exchanges over the past 12 hours, which is also weighing on Bitcoin’s price as sell-off worries mount. The transfer comes after Galaxy Digital received more than 80,000 Bitcoin from a Santoshi-era whale.
Attention is now turning to the next catalyst, which will be the Federal Reserve rate decision next week. The Fed is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 4.25-4.5% despite pressure from President Trump to cut borrowing costs.
For Bitcoin, any sense that the Fed is adopting a slightly more dovish stance could be sufficient to boost BTC back up towards its record high.
Ripple falls 12% in 3 days
After reaching an all-time high, XRP has fallen sharply, dropping 12% over the past three days; however, the sell-off appears to be stabilizing.
The sell-off came following a large transaction by the co-founder, Chris Larsen. A wallet attributed to Chris Larsen transferred 50 million XRP, worth approximately $175 million. Some $140 million was sent to centralised exchanges. Transferring to an exchange is generally considered an indication of an intention to liquidate.
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