Crypto Markets Hold Steady as Bitcoin Recovers from $9B Whale Sale

Bitcoin held steady while Ethereum extended recent gains on Monday, July 28, as the broader crypto market remained mixed following a volatile week.

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at roughly $118,380, flat over the past 24 hours and recovering from a brief but steep drop late last week, when more than 80,000 BTC — worth over $9 billion — was sold by a long-time holder.

Ethereum (ETH) rose sharply, briefly topping $3,900 earlier in the day, before settling near $3,800 to record no change over the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinGecko.

XRP (XRP) is also mostly flat on the day and trading at $3.17, down a substantial 13% on a weekly timeframe, while Solana (SOL) is 1.3% in the green and is trading at $188.30.

The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies is just below $4 trillion, down 4% over the past 24 hours. Trading volume across exchanges reached $174 billion during the same period.

Roughly $353 million in crypto positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with Bitcoin accounting for nearly $56 million, followed by ETH at approximately $124 million, per data from CoinGlass.

ETH Stands Out

CoinShares’ weekly report suggests that Ethereum’s rally could be a sign of an alt season starting — with notable flows into XRP, SOL, and SUI — but that data is still “inconclusive.”

ETH ETFs attracted $1.85 billion in inflows last week, the second-largest weekly total on record. Year-to-date inflows into ETH more broadly have already surpassed all of 2024, CoinShares noted.

Ethereum’s gains follow renewed investor interest and recent comments from Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz, who said in an interview on Thursday that ETH could outperform BTC over the “next three to six months” due to constrained liquidity. A day later, Galaxy disclosed it had facilitated the 80,000 BTC sale for what it described as a “Satoshi-era” investor managing estate planning.

The transaction briefly pushed Bitcoin down to near $115,000 on Friday, but the recovery to current levels suggests the market absorbed the event with relative composure.