Ripple’s XRP Leads Gains In Crypto Majors As Bitcoin Price Sinks Below $66,000

Bitcoin (BTC) slumped below the $66,000 level Tuesday, paring all gains from last week as sentiment soured after an enormous amount of the cryptocurrency was transferred by U.S. authorities, sparking fears of imminent selling pressure among traders. 

XRP Rallies While BTC, ETH, and SOL Trade Lower

According to CoinGecko data, Bitcoin is currently trading for $65,673.53, representing a 2.4% decline over the past 24 hours. Just a day before, BTC had pushed toward $70K but failed to hold it. The weak price action came after $2 billion of Silk Road-linked BTC left a wallet associated with the United States government.

It’s unclear what’s happening with the Bitcoin stash and whether it’s a prelude to a sale. Nonetheless, the transaction contrasted with promises by U.S. presidential candidates over the weekend to use the funds to build a Bitcoin strategic reserve or stockpile.

The unprecedented correction has sent ripples throughout the crypto market, with Solana’s SOL, the industry’s fourth-largest crypto, feeling the most pain among the top 10 cryptocurrencies. The SOL price is currently hovering at $175.95, down 5.5% over the same timeframe. Solana has basically reversed all its Monday gains. The token had skyrocketed as meme coin trading on the network heated up over the weekend, with its on-chain trading volumes surpassing Ethereum’s — the typical leader.

Meanwhile, Ripple’s XRP bucked the trend, rising 3.8% in the past 24 hours following the latest update in the Binance case; which could be significant for the Ripple vs. SEC lawsuit now awaiting a final verdict. 

What’s Next For BTC?

Reacting to Bitcoin’s fall today, Keith Alan, co-founder of trading resource Material Indicators, hoped the bulls could mount a powerful recovery to safeguard a rising trendline on daily timeframes.

In a post on Twitter (aka X), he suggested that higher levels than those witnessed this week, particularly $72K and above, hinged on bulls first flipping the old 2021 record high of $69K to strong support.

“That’s the HH that bulls need to take out before BTC is positioned to go after the ATH, and I do think it will come eventually, but I maintain that we aren’t going to see a sustainable move to a new ATH until we validate and R/S Flip at $69k,” he postulated.

Meanwhile, well-known trader Roman is eyeing near-term price targets of $64,000 and $60,000. “My bet is sentiment gets ultra bearish at these levels then we full send up once again,” he added.

Despite a potential decline in the short term, BTC could be primed for higher prices in the long run. MicroStrategy Chairman Michael Saylor said at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville that the price of the alpha crypto could surge to $13 million by 2045.