Crypto Price Today: Bitcoin holds above $26,200; Toncoin, Polygon fall up to 3%

The major cryptocurrencies were trading in the red on Wednesday amid worries about the impact of higher-for-longer interest rates. The global cryptocurrency market cap was trading at around $1.05 trillion, falling 0.25% in the last 24 hours.

Bitcoin was down 0.25% at $26,229 as of 11:55 a.m., while Ethereum was flat at $1,590.

"The crypto market remained flat during the last 24 hours as traders await the Fed chief’s speech on Thursday, which will give us a clear picture of future rate hikes," said Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUcoin.

Meanwhile, Edul Patel, Co-Founder & CEO of Mudrex, said, "Bitcoin’s price has consolidated above the $26100 level. This could be because of the US 10-year Treasury yield moving up to 4.55%, matching its highest level in about 16 years."

Barring BNB and Tron, all major crypto tokens were trading lower on Wednesday. Toncoin, Solana and Polygon fell up to 3%. Meanwhile, Litecoin, Polkadot, and Dogecoin declined by 1-2%.

The total volume in DeFi is currently $2.25 billion, 11.4% of the total crypto market 24-hour volume. The volume of all stablecoins is now $19.04 billion, which is 96.46% of the total crypto market 24-hour volume.

Bitcoin's dominance is currently 48.95%, according to CoinMarketCap. Meanwhile, BTC volume in the last 24 hours stood at approximately $7.29 billion, falling 30.35% in the last 24 hours.

Notably, this Friday, a substantial number of BTC and ETH options contracts are set to expire on Deribit, with 117,000 BTC options and 1.1 million ETH options reaching their expiration. This event has the potential to increase volatility in the prices of these cryptocurrencies, said CoinDCX Research Team.

Tech view by Sathvik Vishwanath, Co-Founder & CEO, Unocoin

Bitcoin's recent price action has been characterized by sideways trading, falling below the key support level of $26,500. This trend suggests a possible downside, potentially breaking the important $26,000 barrier.

Despite numerous attempts, the primary cryptocurrency struggled to clear the $27,500 resistance, leading to a remarkable pullback. Bitcoin's downward trajectory pushed it below the vital $27,000 and $26,500 support levels, signalling bearish sentiment.

While it briefly dipped below the key $26,200 level and is nearing $26,000, it recently stabilized around $26,026, showing some signs of easing losses. Currently, Bitcoin faces resistance at $26,350 and $26,500, with the potential to rise if it breaks above $26,700, or fall to $25,400 or even $25,000 if it doesn't.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)