Bitcoin Price Update

Bitcoin price slipped on Wednesday, extending a recent downturn as fears over mass token sales by the U.S. government largely offset some optimism over friendlier crypto regulations in the country.

Bitcoin fell 0.7% in the past 24 hours to $66,352.0 by 09:11 ET (13:11 GMT). Positive comments from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had previously seen the token rally as high as $70,000 over the weekend, before it swiftly reversed course.

Market Sentiment Influences

Appetite for risk-driven assets was undermined by anticipation of a Federal Reserve interest rate decision, as well as potential escalation in Middle East tensions following reports of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh being killed by an Israeli strike in Tehran.

Specter of US Government Sales Dents Bitcoin

Pressure on the world’s biggest cryptocurrency came primarily from speculation over potential token sales by the U.S. government, which reportedly holds about $12 billion worth of tokens and is among the biggest Bitcoin holders globally.

Media reports indicated that wallets associated with the government had moved $2 billion worth of Bitcoin seized from the Silk Road onto what could be a custody service. Such a token movement typically heralds a sale, similar to distributions by the defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox earlier this month.

Though Mt. Gox distributions had dropped Bitcoin down to $54,000, the token later recovered on the prospect of friendlier crypto regulations.

Trump reiterated his support for the crypto industry during an address at the Bitcoin Convention in Nashville over the weekend, with many in the crypto industry donating to Trump’s campaign or expressing support for his presidency.

Crypto Price Today: Altcoins Muted, XRP Outperforms

Among broader crypto markets, most altcoins moved in a flat-to-low range, as sentiment towards crypto remained largely downcast. However, XRP outperformed, climbing 3.6% amid unfounded rumors of the Securities and Exchange Commission potentially dropping its lawsuit against Ripple, the issuer of XRP.

Other altcoins saw declines, with the world’s number two token Ether falling 1.2% to $3,318.64, while SOL and ADA slid 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively. Among meme tokens, DOGE fell 2.2%, while SHIB lost 1.3%.

Terra Blockchain Pauses Operations

In other developments, Terra developers temporarily halted network operations due to a reentrancy attack resulting in over $4 million in token theft. The network paused at block height 11430400 to implement an emergency patch that was completed at 04:19 UTC. Validators, possessing over 67% of the voting power on Terra, upgraded their nodes to prevent future exploits.

Security firm Beosin estimated the attack resulted in the theft of $3.5 million in USDC, $500,000 in Tether, 2.7 BTC, and over 60 million of Astroport’s ASTRO tokens. The attack exploited a vulnerability disclosed in April.

Investing.com Terra Classic Index (LUNC) token fell 2.8% in the past 24 hours, while ASTRO plummeted 52%.