XRP is the Sole Major in Green as Bitcoin Bulls Remain Sidelined

Bitcoin (BTC) fell 2.3% in the past 24 hours to $57,000 after briefly surpassing $59,000 on Thursday. XRP tokens were the only major gainers, rising 5% in the past 24 hours amid favorable developments.

One trader said bulls were likely “on the sidelines” amid selling pressure from bitcoin wallets belonging to the German state of Saxony.

Bitcoin (BTC) slumped 2.3% in the past 24 hours to pare back Thursday’s brief gains after a spike following the latest U.S. CPI readings, bringing down with it the broader crypto market.

Core CPI for June rose 3.3% versus an expected 3.5%, appearing bullish for risk assets such as cryptocurrencies. However, it turned out to be a “buy the rumor, sell the news” event with many already anticipating a good report and prices being driven up in the days prior, analysis firm Santiment said in an X post.

BTC briefly traded above $59,000 on Thursday, falling to $57,000 in European afternoon hours on Friday. Losses in major tokens followed as ether (ETH) and BNB Chain’s BNB dropped 2.2%, while Solana’s SOL and dogecoin (DOGE) lost as much as 5%.

The broad-based CoinDesk 20 (CD20), a liquid index of the largest tokens by market capitalization, fell 2.48%, indicating losses across the market.

Only XRP is in the green among majors with a 5% gain in the past 24 hours, data shows. Such gains came as traditional futures powerhouse CME and CF Benchmarks announced the debut of indices and reference rates for XRP on Thursday, one that Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of closely related blockchain payments firm Ripple, said could boost institutional adoption.

Some traders consider the current price lull to be stemming from market participants remaining “on the sidelines” amid sales pressure from defunct exchange Mt. Gox and the German state of Saxony.

“Bitcoin is back at $57K after a failed assault on $60K on Thursday,” shared Alex Kuptsikevich, FxPro senior market analyst, in an email to CoinDesk. “German authorities are actively selling off previously confiscated Bitcoins. This volume is not huge, but some potential buyers prefer to stay on the sidelines, seeing the overhang of sales.”

Kuptsikevich ruled out gains in major tokens until BTC made a move higher. “An altcoin season could only begin when the prices of the largest coins, such as bitcoin, have reached all-time highs and appear overvalued to some,” he said.

The German state of Saxony transferred over $600 million worth of BTC to exchanges on Thursday – moving one of the biggest chunks in weeks.

Arkham data shows that it moved more than 3,000 BTC in early Asian hours on Friday to various exchanges and OTC trading firms, leaving just over 6,000 BTC in its wallets, worth $340 million at current prices.

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