coindesk.com
Major cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether were little changed.
XRP and dogecoin were notable exceptions, with XRP's increase linked to Grayscale's new fund.
Bitcoin has added more than 6% this week, putting it on track for the first weekly gain in three weeks.
However, there has been a notable decrease in transactions over $100,000, with a 33.6% drop for bitcoin and a 72.5% drop for ethereum since their peaks earlier in the year.
Bitcoin (BTC) and major tokens showed slight declines over the past 24 hours with few catalysts to keep a midweek rise going.
BTC, ether (ETH), Solana’s SOL, BNB Chain’s BNB and Cardano’s ADA all lost just under 1%, CoinGecko data shows. XRP and memecoin dogecoin (DOGE) were the only major tokens solidly in the green, climbing 5% and 4.5%, respectively. The broad-based CoinDesk 20, a liquid index tracking the largest tokens by market capitalization, rose 0.85%.
XRP started to rise on Thursday after investment fund Grayscale launched a professional fund that holds the token in the U.S. There was no apparent catalyst for DOGE.
Despite the lack of movement over the past 24 hours, bitcoin has risen more than 6% this week, putting it on track for its biggest one-week gain since the week ended Aug. 25, when it rose 10%.
Santiment, an on-chain analysis tool, noted earlier this week that there has been a steep drop in activity by so-called whales – or large holders of a specific cryptocurrency – over the past month. That's a sign the influential market participants are looking for a clear signal before deploying large amounts of capital.
Bitcoin transfers of over $100,000 have fallen 33.6% since a peak in March and April, Santiment said. Ether has fared worse, with a 72.5% drop, a peak in April.
“This isn't necessarily a bearish signal,” Santiment said. “Whales can be equally active during a bull or bear market. But this indicates that large key stakeholders continue to bide their time as they wait to make their next moves during times of extreme crowd greed or fear.”
“Based on sentiment patterns, a return to $70K would likely come with major crowd FOMO, and $45K would likely lead to major FUD,” the firm said.