Bitcoin holds $79k as profit-taking slows momentum amid AI correlation fears
Bitcoin (BTC)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
Bitcoin consolidated near $79,000 on Thursday as profit-taking and cautious sentiment kept the market in a wait-and-watch phase, according to economictimes.indiatimes.com. The cryptocurrency traded at $78,797, down 0.12% in 24 hours, while Ethereum rose 1.30% to $2,491. Major altcoins showed mixed results, with BNB, Solana, and Dogecoin rallying up to 4.72%, whereas XRP, Tron, Hyperliquid, and Cardano corrected up to 2.13%.
Riya Sehgal of Delta Exchange noted that the setup suggests consolidation rather than a bearish reversal, with traders eyeing the $82,000 area. Attention is now shifting toward the Jackson Hole event, upcoming Fed commentary, and the August CPI data on September 11. The global crypto market capitalization rose 0.12% to $2.65 trillion, though Bitcoin’s weighted sentiment turned negative for the first time since the rally began.
CoinDCX Research Team observed that the crowd has not fully bought in despite the 25% price jump. Prateek Gupta of Mudrex highlighted that Bitcoin and Nvidia have maintained a rolling 90-day correlation above 0.5 since 2025, linking crypto to high-growth tech assets. He warned that if AI spending expectations weaken, crypto could face spillover pressure as institutions reassess risk. Vikram Subburaj of Giottus stated that immediate support lies around $77,600-$78,000, with on-chain data indicating a healthier recovery foundation than a leverage-driven one.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for BTC, measured when this story was written up on 27 August 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
Bitcoin is trading at $79,023.75 with a 1-hour buy ratio of 40.7% and a 4-hour buy ratio of 43.0%, both trailing the 24-hour buy ratio of 49.9%. This decline in shorter-term buying pressure suggests that momentum is fading as the day progresses. Volume delta reflects this shift, showing negative outflows of -$10,177,635 over the last hour and -$13,495,762 over four hours. Over the full 24 hours, the volume delta is -$903,088, with a cumulative CVD of -$60,135,024 at close. The buy ratio indicates the percentage of volume coming from buyers; a ratio below 50% means sellers are dominating the flow. The negative volume delta confirms that sell volume exceeded buy volume during these periods.
The latest daily buy ratio of 46.7% sits at the 18th percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 49.2% - weaker buying than most days.
Twenty-four hours later
What BTC did over the 24 hours after the story broke. The market moves for its own reasons; this is what happened, not what the story caused.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for BTC, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, the average buy ratio was 51.6%, meaning today’s 24-hour ratio of 49.9% is slightly below the weekly norm by 1.7 points. Spot volume today was $1,148,236,056, which is 0.54 times the weekly average, indicating significantly lower activity than usual. While the coin saw net buying on six of the past seven days, today’s volume is roughly half of what is typical for the period. This suggests an ordinary day for sentiment but an unusual one for volume intensity. The weekly volume delta totaled +$445,688,281, contrasting with today’s slight net outflow.