On the Chain: Bitcoin slips below US$79,000 as rally cools after US$81,000 test

Bitcoin has slipped back below US$79,000 after its rapid recovery ran into resistance above US$81,000, leaving traders to assess whether the latest surge marks the start of a more sustained crypto recovery or has simply moved too far too quickly.

At the latest check, Bitcoin was trading around US$78,800, while Ether was near US$2,460, Solana around US$97 and XRP close to US$1.45.

Bitcoin reached an intraday high of US$81,265 on Tuesday before being rejected near its 50-week moving average, which was sitting at roughly US$81,085.

ETF money continues to flow

Institutional demand remains one of the stronger arguments supporting the recovery.

US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds attracted US$337.56 million on August 24, while Ether funds drew US$115.57 million.

Solana products attracted another US$33.49 million and XRP products US$13.82 million. Bitcoin ETF assets had risen to US$98.56 billion, compared with US$78.67 billion a week earlier, reflecting both fresh inflows and Bitcoin's sharp price recovery.

The flows provide an important source of spot demand after the initial breakout above US$69,000 was partly driven by roughly US$3 billion of short covering.

Fresh liquidity returns to crypto