Crypto market bounces off recent sell-off, bitcoin rises to $26,500

 

Cryptocurrencies climbed Wednesday as investors continued to deal with the market’s summer doldrums and looked forward to the Federal Reserve’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday.

Bitcoin

climbed more than 2% to $26,517.09. The cryptocurrency has been hanging around the $26,000 mark after dropping below it unexpectedly late last week and had its worst week since May. Ether

increased more than 3% to trade at $1,684.20.

Binance coin

, the third-largest crypto asset by market size excluding stablecoins, rose 4%. Coins related to Ethereum competitors were up as well — Solana’s

coin rose 6%, while Cardano’s

gained 5.5% and Polygon’s

rose 4%.

The crypto market advance upward corresponded with rises in the main stock indexes. Bitcoin assets jumped more steeply at about noon ET, however, it’s unclear what precisely might have sparked the sudden increase.

“You’re going to witness some huge fluctuations up and down as bitcoin attempts to march back to $30,000,” said Callie Cox, analyst at financial platform eToro. “Add in summer trading volumes, and you have a formula for day-to-day volatility. Bitcoin prices have been more resilient today on anticipation for lower rates, and a few hours of calm trade might have been enough to pull purchasers back in.”

The market has also been anxious in recent weeks that Fed Chair Jerome Powell may make a more hawkish speech on rate rises this week at the central bank’s meeting in Jackson Hole, which some suggest could be manifesting now in a sell-the-rumor, buy-the-news moment.

Crypto has been suffering since the spring from poor liquidity and thin trading volumes, which has amplified swings on both the upside and the downside. This has been particularly true during the usually drowsy month of August.

“The link between equities indexes and bitcoin has decreased to near zero in 2023,” said Sam Callahan, head analyst at Swan Bitcoin. “Bitcoin’s price looks to be recovering following a severe sell-off last week that was worsened by roughly $2.7 billion worth of liquidations of leveraged positions