Bitcoin Retreats to US$26,000

Bitcoin experienced a decline, dropping to approximately $26,000 during the early hours of Friday in the Asian market. This reversal erased a significant portion of the gains made the previous day. Investors are closely watching the upcoming speech by Jerome Powell, Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, at Jackson Hole. This speech is expected to provide insights into the potential conclusion of the ongoing rate hike cycle, which could have implications for the cryptocurrency market. Ether also observed a decline, approaching the support level of $1,600. Among the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies, most recorded losses. Solana, after a day of gains, led the decliners. Notably, the Forkast 500 NFT index saw a slight increase, likely due to Solana blockchain's partnership with e-commerce giant Shopify, which bodes well for the NFT sector. U.S. stock futures displayed mixed trading following Wall Street's decline on the previous day, with all three major indexes experiencing losses exceeding 1%.

Bitcoin's Gains Give Way to Cautious Sentiments

Solana's SOL token stood out among the decliners, encountering a 3.09% drop to $20.90, resulting in a weekly loss of 4.98%.

SOL reached a four-day peak of $21.99 on Thursday, coinciding with the announcement that Solana Pay, a payment protocol built on the Solana blockchain, had partnered with Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify. This partnership facilitates USDC stablecoin payments for online shopping without intermediary fees.

Over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin's value dropped by 1.40%, settling at $26,081.21 as of 07:20 a.m. in Hong Kong. This reflects a 2.90% decline for the week, according to data from CoinMarketCap. The world's leading cryptocurrency reached a low of $25,914.93 on Friday, marking a 2.9% decrease from its peak of $26,688.48 on Thursday.

Samer Hasn, a market analyst at XS.com, a global multi-asset broker headquartered in Australia, attributes the prevailing cautious sentiment in the cryptocurrency market to the heightened regulatory scrutiny in the U.S.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has initiated legal actions against several digital asset companies, including Ripple Labs, and Binance. US, and Coinbase. In response to recent regulatory developments, Bitstamp, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Luxembourg, announced its discontinuation of Ether staking services for U.S. customers starting September 25.

Hasn emphasized that the “negative sentiment might persist, exerting pressure on the cryptocurrency market in the upcoming weeks or months until a clear regulatory and legislative framework for the cryptocurrency market emerges... The substantial movements of cryptocurrency wallets, particularly in Bitcoin, could potentially further erode participants' confidence and promote an atmosphere of caution regarding future market trends, potentially leading to downturns or substantial fluctuations.”

In conjunction with Bitcoin's losses, Ether also experienced a decline of 1.40%, reaching $1,652.77, and marking a 3.27% decrease over the past week.

Most other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies observed declines within the last 24 hours. An exception was Binance's BNB token, which exhibited a marginal increase of 0.58%, reaching $217.48. Nevertheless, it still incurred a weekly loss of 1.87%.