Bitcoin (BTC) has maintained its price above the $26,000 level on Wednesday, supported by FTX’s approval to sell its crypto assets from a bankruptcy court and slightly higher-than-expected headline inflation data in the U.S. The largest cryptocurrency briefly reached $26,350 during U.S. afternoon hours before retracing slightly to $26,135, down 0.3% over the past 24 hours.
Solana’s SOL initially rose but then dipped over 2% following the court decision. Concerns about dumping arose as the collapsed exchange holds $1.16 billion of the token, although part of it is locked as venture investment. Despite the decline, SOL remained up 1.2% for the day.
Aptos (APT), another significant holding of FTX, dropped nearly 2% on the news but still retained most of its 3% gain throughout the day.
Other major cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), and XRP, experienced little change, sliding less than 0.5% during the day.
Huobi, a crypto exchange, announced its rebranding to HTX, causing the exchange’s HT token to rise almost 3% before giving up some of the gains.
Toncoin (TON) surged nearly 10% after messaging app Telegram endorsed the TON network as its blockchain Web3 infrastructure, with plans to integrate it into the app. TON retraced most of the move but remained up 1.7%.
The U.S. government’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for August revealed slightly higher-than-expected headline inflation, rising to 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Rising oil prices were a contributing factor to the increase.
Bitcoin’s price has remained steady around the $26,000 level for almost a month since its dramatic decline. Traders have been selling the rallies and buying the dips, making it difficult for marginal economic news to impact the market. While some hope for interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the economy continues to grow, and inflation remains above the central bank’s target.
Analysts have noted a deteriorating technical picture for Bitcoin, with support at $26,000 seen as potentially fragile. Charlie Morris, CIO at ByteTree Asset Management, expects BTC to trade between $20,000 and $30,000 until the halving next April.
QCP Capital predicts an imminent final decline for Bitcoin, potentially pushing the price down to around $23,000, citing negative news such as a more hawkish Federal Reserve meeting, FTX asset sales, and Mt Gox fund repayment in the coming weeks.
