Bitcoin BTCUSD –0.63% and other cryptocurrencies traded lower on Monday after traders took profits in the world’s biggest cryptocurrency after it shortly touched $25,000 over the weekend.
Bitcoin has fallen 1.6% over the past 24 hours to $24,119. The cryptocurrency traded above $25,000 on Sunday for the first time since mid-June. Its progress over the last week was strong, rising more than 4% as U.S. inflation slowed in July, taking some pressure off the Federal Reserve which has been raising interest rates to slow down the economy.
The bitcoin price rose above the $25,000 level for the first time since June 13, as the flow continued from cooler-than-expected US inflation data and advancement towards Ethereum’s much-anticipated upgrade. The world’s largest and most famous cryptocurrency Bitcoin was trading over a percent higher at $25,200.
The global crypto market cap today was above the $1 trillion mark, even as it was almost flat in the last 24 hours at $1.23 trillion, as per CoinGecko.
On the other hand, Ether, the coin linked to the Ethereum blockchain and the second largest cryptocurrency, rose nearly a percent to $2,004. Ether raised to $2,000 on Saturday for the first time since May 31 amid optimism about the completion of its blockchain’s much-anticipated software refurbish known as the Merge, which is now likely to happen around Sept. 15, according to network co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
The Merge shows a transition in how Ether tokens are minted and transactions are validated, away from mining blocks using complex computational puzzles under the proof-of-work method and toward proof-of-stake. Under the POS method, Ether holders can sign up to approve transactions on Ethereum based on stashes of piled-up tokens.
Following the collapse of crucial pair of tokens, some cryptocurrency lenders froze customer transactions, and several crypto firms have cut jobs. Prices have partly recovered, with bitcoin gaining 17% in July.
