Major cryptocurrencies are starting the week in negative territory as concerns about substantial Bitcoin sales loom over investors, leading them to reduce exposure in anticipation of lower prices. The CoinDesk 20, a comprehensive index of the most actively traded tokens, experienced a 2.86% decline in the past 24 hours.
Prominent tokens like Solana’s SOL and Cardano’s ADA recorded a 5% drop in the last 24 hours, emerging as the top losers among major cryptocurrencies. BNB Chain’s BNB remained relatively stable due to demand for launchpads requiring the token on the Binance crypto exchange. Dogecoin (DOGE) initially resisted the overall market weakness amid speculation about adoption in an upcoming feature on the X social application but has retreated in the past six hours.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, broke below the $41,000 support level early Monday. Traders anticipate further declines, possibly reaching as low as $38,000 in the coming weeks, potentially triggering additional losses across other cryptocurrencies.
The recent downward pressure on Bitcoin is attributed to sales linked to Grayscale’s GBTC Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to some analysts, including Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas. Verified wallets associated with Grayscale, monitored by analysis firm Arkham, indicate that the fund moved over $400 million worth of Bitcoin to custodian Coinbase Prime on Thursday—a move speculated to precede an eventual sale.
However, newly approved Bitcoin ETFs, such as BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC ETFs, have experienced net inflows. Data from CoinGlass reveals that these ETFs crossed the $1 billion mark last week, indicating buying pressure in contrast to the prevailing selling sentiment.
