Bitcoin Price Declines As Holders Move $15bn BTC To Safety
Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $63. 4k, down slightly on Wednesday amid broader sell pressure in the cryptocurrency market, as investors and holders moved the digital assets to safety after the Coldcard. . .
Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $63. 4k, down slightly on Wednesday amid broader sell pressure in the cryptocurrency market, as investors and holders moved the digital assets to safety after the Coldcard exploit. BTC price movement has been capped after a $130 million exploit targeted Coldcard hardware wallets; about 233,000 Bitcoin, valued at $15 billion, were moved to new wallets for safety. The attack drained vulnerable wallets one by one, prompting users to act quickly. Casa CEO Nick Neuman said this event highlights the resilience of self-custody, showing users can independently secure their assets without centralised help. It also underscores the need for secure wallet setups, timely updates, and recovery plans for Bitcoin holders managing their own funds. The discovery of the Coldcard firmware exploit, which compromised approximately 2,100 BTC, triggered a wave of defensive actions among Bitcoin holders. Users moved an estimated 22,000 BTC to exchanges and significantly more to safer, long-term storage as soon as the vulnerability became known. With $22 billion in transaction value, BTC trading volume increased by 7% in 24 hours amid prevailing bearish sentiment in the market. The largest digital asset’s price has been hovering below $64k in the absence of buying interest from retail and institutional investors as sentiment remained relatively downbeat,Crypto analysts said Bitcoin’s current trajectory is defined by a push-pull between long-term institutional building and short-term headwinds from liquidity and sentiment. The market has seen successive improvements in spot ETF inflows, but selling pressure from other segments continues to drag on BTC price, with negative effects on global crypto market capitalisation. The total cryptocurrency market capitalisation fell by more than 2% to $2. 18 trillion on Wednesday, with a 24-hour trading volume of $54. 2 billion. Meanwhile, Russian regulators are moving to restrict retail crypto trading to Bitcoin, Ether, and Tether (USDT) only, while imposing a 300,000-ruble (approximately $3,600) annual purchase limit for non-qualified investors. From an investment perspective, this regulatory bottleneck will effectively suffocate the retail market for altcoins and smaller-cap tokens in Russia. By restricting retail exposure to only the most established assets, the government is forcing liquidity to consolidate into blue-chip cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. This reduces capital flow into higher-risk decentralised finance projects within the region and reinforces the dominance of major assets as the primary vehicles for retail capital entry. Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs agreed to acquire options-based income ETF manager NEOS Investments for up to $2. 25 billion. The deal, set to close in Q1 2027, will lift Goldman’s ETF platform above $130 billion in assets and includes plans for a Bitcoin Premium Income ETF. What this means:This is bullish for Bitcoin because it represents a major traditional finance firm doubling down on crypto-adjacent strategies, building the regulated product pipeline necessary for broader institutional capitalEthereum Gains on Spot ETF Inflow, Cooling US Inflation DataJulius AlagbeJulius Alagbe is a senior financial journalist and Editor at MarketForces Africa with nearly two decades of experience in finance, accounting, and economics reporting. He is one of Nigeria's most prolific financial market reporters, covering capital markets, monetary policy, corporate earnings, banking, telecoms, and macroeconomic developments across Africa. Julius has built a strong footprint reporting on Nigeria's leading corporates and financial services sector, including coverage of the Nigerian Exchange Group, Central Bank of Nigeria monetary operations, MTN Nigeria, GTCO, and major investment banking transactions. He regularly monitors the CBN’s open market operations, interbank FX markets, and equity market movements, providing readers with real-time intelligence on Nigeria’s financial landscape. His reporting draws on direct access to institutional research from firms including Moody’s Ratings, CardinalStone Securities, Fitch, and other leading African investment houses. Julius brings analytical depth and editorial rigour to every story, making complex financial data accessible to professionals, investors, and policymakers across Africa. Julius Alagbe is based in Lagos, Nigeria.