A perfect storm is brewing in the cryptocurrency market, as Bitcoin's price struggles to gain traction despite a recent uptick.
While the flagship cryptocurrency managed a modest 0.5% gain to $57,350 in early European trading, according to data from CoinGecko. But underlying market dynamics tell a more complex story.
A key factor contributing to Bitcoin's price weakness is the aggressive selling by new whales.
According to data shared on Twitter by CryptoQuant Head of Research Julio Moreno, these newly-minted large scale investors dumped a staggering $688 million worth of Bitcoin on August 5 alone—the largest single-day of loss since May 2021.
"Most selling is coming from new whales," he wrote, "old whales are basically not selling."
The implications of this whale behavior are far-reaching.
This selling pressure has exerted downward pressure on Bitcoin's price, offsetting some of the bullish sentiment generated by other factors.
For starters, BRN analyst Valentin Fournier said investors should keep an eye on the U.S. initial jobless claims data being released later today.
“Bitcoin is slowly building momentum, showing upward pressure over the last three days after bouncing back from the market slump on Monday. It failed to push past $58,000 yesterday but seems to be on the right track,” he wrote in a note shared with Decrypt. “Initial jobless claims released later today could calm economic recession fears and help maintain the positive momentum.”
As investors wait to see whether the Federal Reserve will lower rates at its next Federal Open Markets Committee meeting on September 17, Fournier added that traders should also keep an eye out for the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Core Price Index report, due out on Wednesday, August 14.
“This will give us a view of how consistently American job creation is going and how much room the FED has to prevent a hard landing,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Bitcoin spot ETF market has witnessed a period of mixed fortunes.
While total net inflows reached $45.14 million, with BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) leading the charge with $52.52 million, the overall asset under management (AUM) has slipped below the crucial $50 billion mark.
This indicates that institutional investors may be adopting a more cautious stance, potentially viewing ETFs as a hedging tool rather than an outright bullish bet.
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, underperformed compared to Bitcoin, shedding 3.5% to trade at $2,420 at the time of writing. And Ethereum saw net outflows of $23.68 million from its U.S. spot ETFs, indicating a prevailing bearish sentiment.
Beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, the cryptocurrency landscape was marked by significant developments.
XRP rallied 16% following a landmark settlement between Ripple Labs and the Securities and Exchange Commission, while Toncoin (TON) surged nearly 6% after Binance announced its listing.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.