Bitcoin slips to $81,700 as sentiment cools and treasury firms keep buying

Bitcoin gave back its earlier gains and slipped 0.41% to $81,691 in the 24 hours to the latest CoinGecko snapshot, after the rejection at $83,000 held. Sentiment cooled with it, as the Crypto Fear & Greed Index eased to 55 from 59, even as corporate buyers like Strive and Metaplanet kept adding bitcoin.

Bitcoin

According to CoinGecko, bitcoin traded at $81,691, down 0.41% on the day and 0.32% on the week. Its 24-hour range ran from $83,035 to $81,737, so the price sits just under the bottom of that band. Trading volume was $25.7 billion.

The backdrop has not changed much. Decrypt describes bitcoin as repeatedly falling back to the same floor while $108 oil and 5% yields weigh on risk assets, calling the chart "a coiled spring, not a trend." You can follow the price on the BTC/USD chart.

Ether and the majors

Ether dipped 0.25% to $2,398.63 and is down 2.56% over seven days, back below the $2,400 mark. BNB and Solana posted small daily gains. Cardano remained the weakest major, down 8.11% on the week.

See the ETH/USD chart for Ether's recent path.

Breadth and sentiment

Total crypto market capitalisation stood at $2.752 trillion, down 2.13% over 24 hours, per CoinGecko. Bitcoin dominance was 59.6% and Ether's share 10.6%.

The Fear & Greed Index read 55 (Greed), down from 59 a day earlier. Over the past eight days it has swung between 53 and 63 without a clear trend, touching neutral twice.

Main news drivers

Treasury companies split

Strive bought $335 million in bitcoin, adding 1,223 BTC and lifting its holdings to 36,818 BTC, Cointelegraph reports. Decrypt adds that the purchase followed $369 million from warrant exercises and that Strive now plans a $630 million sale of 15% preferred stock.

Metaplanet agreed to take a 93.7% stake in Super League through a 2,100 BTC deal, according to Cointelegraph, giving it access to US capital markets to fund more bitcoin purchases. Going the other way, Solana treasury firm SkyAI sold all its SOL and launched a $201 million buyback, Cointelegraph reports.

Payments giants move on stablecoins

Visa partnered with Mesh to let users spend crypto and stablecoins at 175 million merchant locations, per Cointelegraph. Mastercard unveiled a fraud and sanctions screening tool for stablecoin payments at Money20/20, Decrypt reports.

Regulation and other items

• The CFTC pushed back on CME's legal stance in a dispute that could shape US perpetual futures, according to CoinDesk.
• Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino is defending the firm against a senator's accusations over Iran activity, CoinDesk reports.
• A wallet dormant since 2013 moved 411.45 BTC, worth about $33.4 million, citing Galaxy Research, Decrypt reports.

For the wider macro picture, including China's GDP beat, see our sister site's report on the euro and the Aussie.

What to watch next

1. SEC comment deadline. The SEC is set to close public comments on its "Regulation Crypto Assets" proposal, Cointelegraph reports.
2. CFTC vs CME. The outcome of the perpetual futures dispute.
3. Strive's preferred sale. The planned $630 million offering.
4. XRP Ledger lending. Developers published a second amendment to fix the new lending feature while the original awaits validator approval, per Decrypt.
5. Tokenized stocks. Nine companies, including Verizon and Broadcom, object to trading on the planned OKX-ICE venue, Decrypt reports.