Bitcoin price slipped on Tuesday as a weekend rebound ran dry amid growing uncertainty over the U.S. presidential race, with traders now awaiting an upcoming address by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
World no.2 token Ether also retreated, seeing few positive trades even as the Securities and Exchange Commission approved six spot Ether ETFs to begin trading later in the day.
Bitcoin fell 1.8% in the past 24 hours to $66,425.7 by 09:12 ET (13:12 GMT). The token had risen as far as $69,000 over the weekend, but stalled on Monday.
Ether dropped 0.2% to $3,495.58, with the token expected to see some selling as major ETF issuers prepare for the launch of their spot offerings.
Bitcoin rebound stalls, Trump address awaited
The world’s largest cryptocurrency extended losses into a second session as a weekend rebound stalled. The weekend rebound was driven largely by lower trading volumes.
Still, Bitcoin was sitting on some gains over the past week, as speculation over a Trump presidency drove up hopes for a friendlier regulatory environment.
Trump is set to speak at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville this Saturday. The Republican nominee has maintained a pro-crypto stance during recent campaigning, and his campaign also accepts crypto donations.
But uncertainty over Trump’s prospects rose after President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 elections, instead endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee.
Harris was seen receiving enough support from Democratic delegates to be elected as the presidential nominee, but still needs to be officially appointed.
Trump was seen polling ahead of Biden and Harris according to CBS and HarrisX polling data from last week. But it was unclear just how Biden’s stepping down will accept polling, given that some analysts expected Harris to perform better as a presidential candidate against Trump.
Crypto price today: Ether ETF set to launch, altcoins struggle
Ether fell as the SEC approved six different applications for a spot ETF in U.S. markets, which are set to begin trading from Tuesday.
The launch comes nearly six months after spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved for U.S. markets. While the launch had provided an initial boost to Bitcoin, driving it to record highs in March, the token has since floundered around the $60,000s for most part, while trading volumes in the ETFs also eased.
Additionally, Ether may face some selling pressure as Ether trust operator Grayscale, which is set to convert the trust into a spot ETF, mobilized $1 billion of the token onto exchanges.
Other altcoins tracked losses in Bitcoin and Ether. SOL and ADA fell 3.2% and 4.2%, respectively, while XRP rose 3.6%.
Among meme tokens, SHIB lost 4%, while DOGE slid 5.3%.
BTC options implied volatility jumps ahead of Trump’s appearance at Bitcoin 2024
According to market analysts, the current bitcoin volatility can in part be attributed to Donald Trump’s upcoming appearance at the Nashville Bitcoin conference this weekend.
“Prices for out-of-the-money options have increased significantly, indicating expectations for more extreme market movements,” analysts at QCP Capital said in a note. The stronger demand and increased prices for these options reflect a general sense of anticipation among market participants.
This sentiment is also evident in Bitcoin options open interest on Deribit, where options implied volatility has risen from 53% to 67% over the past week, according to data from the derivatives exchange.
Several other key events could also add to the market volatility, including inflows into spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds, and the release of the U.S. GDP and Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index reports on Thursday.