In a week of dramatic swings, Bitcoin's (BTC) price has retreated from its highs and is currently trading at $66,250, down 0.9% during European hours.
This volatility comes on the heels of a momentous surge past $70,000 earlier in the week, fueled by former President Donald Trump's ambitious cryptocurrency plans announced at a Bitcoin conference in Nashville.
Trump's declaration to fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler and establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve if elected president temporarily sent the crypto market into a frenzy.
However, the excitement was short-lived as a series of events unfolded, causing investor sentiment to sour.
A significant sell-off, amounting to around 8%, was triggered when the U.S. Marshals Service moved $2 billion worth of Bitcoin to new wallets.
This action reignited fears of a potential large-scale liquidation, compounded by lingering concerns over a possible Mt. Gox Bitcoin sell-off. Very early this morning, the Mt. Gox trustee transferred $2.2 billion worth of its BTC holdings into a new wallet.
Meanwhile, the U.S. spot Bitcoin spot ETF market is showing signs of fluctuation, according to data from SoSo Value. On July 30, the spot Bitcoin funds experienced their first net outflow in five days, totaling $18.3 million.
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) saw outflows of $73.6 million, while BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) attracted $74.9 million in inflows. But outflows from other funds left the category in the red by the end of trading on Tuesday. The total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs currently stands at a substantial $58.5 billion.
In other crypto news, Ripple (XRP) has surged 8.6% in the past 24 hours, reaching over 64 cents – its highest point since March 25, according to CoinGecko data.
This rally comes amid a scheduled token unlock and growing optimism surrounding a potential settlement in the long-running SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit.
The crypto community is closely watching the SEC's moves, particularly its intention to amend its complaint against Binance regarding "Third Party Crypto Asset Securities," which some interpret as a positive sign for Ripple.
In a market analysis note, Singapore-based crypto trading desk QCP Capital wrote that while election headlines continue to dominate, several crucial macroeconomic events loom on the horizon.
“Election headlines will remain a major focus, but several key macroeconomic events are also on the horizon. Key events starting with the FOMC meeting on Wednesday, megacap tech earnings (Apple, Amazon, Meta) throughout the week, and unemployment data on Friday,” QCP Capital wrote.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.