By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)
Crypto majors continue to trade in a choppy manner, with bitcoin (BTC) retreating to $113,600 after reaching $114,800 late Wednesday. Ether (ETH) and most major tokens also erased overnight gains as derivatives traders looked for downside protection ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s highly anticipated speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday.
Long-term sentiment for bitcoin, measured by an options market indicator, turned bearish for the first time since June 2023. Technical signals also point to a weakening short-term outlook.
In a notable move, an OG wallet sold 660 BTC and opened long positions in ether worth $295 million across four wallets, reflecting growing preference for ETH over bitcoin and echoing a trend seen in derivatives markets.
Heightened concerns over bitcoin’s decentralization emerged after popular X account "WhaleWire" revealed that two mining pools, Foundry USA and Antpool, now control over 50% of the network’s hashrate — the computing power validating transactions. This follows Qubic's recent claim it was able to make a 51% attack on Monero and planned an attempt on Dogecoin.
Financial services platform Swan highlighted that market confidence was shaken by recent guidance from bitcoin holder Strategy, which said that it may issue equity to pay debt interest, fund preferred dividends or when deemed advantageous.
Swan urged investors to focus on Strategy’s $73 billion in BTC holdings and strong balance sheet, suggesting the company could cover dividend obligations for decades even if bitcoin’s price fell more than 50%. “Hardly the picture of imminent collapse,” Swan said on X.
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