*UPDATED* Bitcoin's (BTC) latest rally turned a corner as investors looked for profits following a 17% all-time-high surge in July.
The original cryptocurrency reversed its course at the start of this week and stood a little above $117,000 at 17:00 UTC on Tuesday, well beneath the high of over $123,200 recorded a day earlier.
US pro-crypto stance
Traders buoyed by optimism from the US's pro-crypto stance and rising interest in digital assets from institutional money managers have piled into Bitcoin in recent days. Bitcoin's stellar advance has also been fueled by companies acquiring billions of dollars worth of the coin to store in their corporate treasuries and by an increasing number of crypto-focused ETFs (exchange-traded funds).
Altcoins drop
The gains have proven to be too good an opportunity to miss for investors seeking to take profit off the table. Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, and XRP also declined since Bitcoin's high point before paring losses later on Tuesday, while Solana (SOL) dropped more than 4%. DogeCoin (DOGE) was the biggest loser of the top 20 coins by market cap, sliding more than 7 percent.
With crypto traders feeling a little hot under the collar, investors are digesting a positive set of economic data released from China that propelled Hong Kong's Hang Sen Index of equities higher. There was little market reaction to figures showing US inflation at 2.7% in June although signs of US tariffs driving up purchase prices could have an impact on the next Federal Reserve meeting later this month.
Crypto legislation to follow
Lawmakers in Washington are also preparing to vote on two major pieces of crypto legislation later this week, which could revive some of the positive sentiment around crypto assets.
Among the few outliers to the downward trend in crypto markets, Bonk (BONK) jumped 7 percent in the past 24 hours. The memecoin has been gaining following the introduction in April of LetsBonk.fun, a separate launchpad that's proving popular with BONK enthusiasts.
Whale liquidations
In addition, some whales have started to liquidate their long-term Bitcoin positions.
Analysis by CryptoQuant showed that long-term holders have deposited around 1,800 Bitcoin on Binance in the past 24 hours, with transactions of over $1m making up over 35% of Bitcoin inflows. This is likely to be a move to capitalize on gains thanks to the price increase. It could also indicate the whales using the price volatility to open new positions.
One Satoshi-era whale wallet has transferred 9,000 Bitcoin to Galaxy Digital, probably in preparation for sale, according to a Lookonchain post on X. The wallet holds just over 80,000 Bitcoin; offloading 9,000 would mean a return of a little over $1 billion at current prices.
