Bitcoin inches higher near $89,000 after prolonged sell-off; recovery still fragile

(Image: AI Generated)

• Bitcoin rose 2.78 percent in 24 hours, stabilizing after last week's sell-off
• US digital asset reserve speculation boosts confidence, but rally still fragile
• Indian crypto users shift focus, boosting transaction volumes.

Did our AI summary help?

Bitcoin edged higher on February 9, after a prolonged sell-off last week. The world’s largest cryptocurrency stood just above $79,165 as of 9.55 am IST, up 2.78 percent in the past 24 hours and a decline of 6.53 percent in a week.

"The cryptocurrency market is showing tentative signs of stabilization. However, the recovery remains fragile. Market sentiment, while improving, is still dominated by fear, and any failure to sustain key support levels could reignite bearish momentum. Speculation around a possible US government interest in building a digital asset reserve has lifted confidence, but without confirmation, the rally could fade quickly," said Riya Sehgal, Research Analyst, Delta Exchange.

According to Akshat Siddhant, Lead quant analyst, Mudrex, a positive short-term outlook depends on a sustained move above $71,000. Until then, prices may continue to move within a range.

Ethereum was up 0.69 percent, XRP 2.27 percent, BNB 0.08 percent, Solana 0.46 percent, TRON 0.90 percent, Bitcoin Cash 1.86 percent, whereas Tether, USDC, and Dogecoin was down 0.01 percent, 0.01 percent, and 0.24 percent, respectively, in the last 24 hours.

According to the CoinDCX Research Team, Humanity Protocol and WorldLiberty Financial lead the top gainers with 14.92% and 12.25% jumps, respectively, followed by Aster & Decred, which rose by 11.12% and 8.47%, respectively. Besides, Memecore plunges heavily by 30%, followed by Stacks by 4.56% and Filecoin by 3.43%.

Here's how the price of cryptocurrency moved in Febuary 9, as of 9:55 am IST.

In an interesting development, an anonymous sender transferred 2,565 BTC, worth nearly $181K, to Satoshi Nakamoto’s Genesis address over the weekend. Michael Saylor hints at buying more Bitcoin, despite Strategy’s BTC reserve being in the red. Although markets show some stability, Goldman Sachs warns the market sell-off is not over yet.

What should investors do?

"Investors should stay disciplined and accumulate gradually near support rather than chasing rallies. Keep the leverage low until price decisively reclaims higher resistance levels. Use instruments like crypto SIPs to gradually accumulate BTC. This can average out losses in the event of any high volatility," said Vikram Subburaj, CEO, Giottus.

Here's what has happened in the last 24 hours, according to  Nischal Shetty, Founder of WazirX.

• Crypto’s trajectory is largely focussed on the global macro movements such as growth concerns and interest rate outlooks, with looming uncertainty as investors continue to shift money to risk off assets.

• The Nikkei 225 surged to record highs after Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s decisive supermajority win, giving markets confidence in a bold, expansionary fiscal agenda. This sparked a global ripple effect, pushing gold past $5,000 and briefly taking Bitcoin to $72,000 before it consolidated above $70,000.

• At the same time, uncertainty around future US Federal Reserve leadership and a more cautious stance from global central banks have tightened short-term liquidity. Even amid macro crosscurrents, Bitcoin has bounced back to strong levels.

• In India, user behaviour is shifting from pure speculation toward broader use cases as global crypto sentiment shifts from viewing crypto as “just an asset class” to its broader utility. This practical utility is contributing to overall transaction volumes climbing for Payments crypto tokens on Indian exchanges in addition to other categories such as stablecoins, memecoins, layer1 tokens, etc.