Bitcoin (BTC) price looks to establish a foothold above the trendline

The new week is off to a silent start as bitcoin looks to establish a foothold above the trendline, characterizing the downtrend line from record highs

The new week kicked off with a muted start as bitcoin sought to establish a foothold above the key trendline, highlighting the downtrend from all-time highs, with $86K emerging as a point of resistance over the weekend.

Among the tokens, FLR, TRX, and SOL outpaced the broader market, whereas the RWA protocol Mantra's OM token underwent a substantial decline during the Asian hours.

Mantra attributed the 90% crash of its token to 70 cents amid forced liquidations on crypto exchanges, as reported by CCXV.

Sleuthing platform Spot On Chain disclosed a significant movement of coins to crypto exchange OKX three days prior to the crash.

"A staggering 399,999,999 $OM tokens, valued at approximately $199.8 million, were transferred from Mantra DAO to OKX exchange on August 9, 2023. This transfer constitutes almost the entire circulating supply of $OM tokens."

OKX CEO Star Xu called the OM token collapse a major scandal for the entire crypto industry, emphasizing that all on-chain data is readily available for scrutiny across major exchanges.

In other developments, data tracked by IntoTheBlock showed a renewed uptick in transaction volumes on Virtuals Protocol, a blockchain project facilitating the creation, ownership, and deployment of AI agents.

Further, Arkham Intelligence revealed that Mechanism's Capital Andrew Kang had doubled his bullish bet on BTC, now holding a long position worth $200 million.

New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) discussed the relative stability of the crypto market and its orderly behavior during last week's carnage in the traditional markets, suggesting it could become a self-reinforcing virtuous cycle.

However, some investors anticipate a range-bound trading pattern for bitcoin (BTC) due to concerns over the slow resolution of U.S.-China trade tensions.

President Trump's late Friday decision to exempt certain products from Chinese tariffs is being seen as an opening for trade negotiations with China, an aspect that could provide support for risk-sensitive assets this week.

"BTC continues to consolidate within the $80k-$90k range and could continue trading sideways, adopting a 'wait and see' approach to the tariff situation. Volume remains low, but traders are anticipating high volumes and volatility this week with the $100k calls sold out and traders rolling their positions in the market," QCP Capital stated in a Telegram broadcast.

There is deep skepticism over whether to cheer Trump's late Friday pivot, according to Bloomberg's Lisa Abramovicz.

"This is still a sell rallies environment. Tariff uncertainty, growth weakness, a Fed risking policy errors in both directions and fund outflows all suggest wider spreads ahead," Deutsche Bank's Credit Analyst Steve Caprio was quoted by Abramovicz as saying.

Some market participants noted concerns over the decreasing demand for the spot bitcoin ETFs, which saw outflows of over $700 million last week, according to data source Farside Investors.

"ETF demand is cooling. A sharp drop in bitcoin spot ETF assets signals institutional outflows. Watch this trend closely," blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant stated on X.

Lastly, major U.S. equity indexes, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, appeared headed for the death cross, a bearish technical pattern involving the 50-day simple moving average's (SMA) move below the 200-day SMA, and the dollar index looked oversold according to the 14-day relative strength index. Both observations called for caution in risk assets.

Key events and data to watch for the week ahead include Monday's stock market reaction to Trump's tariff exclusions, Wednesday's U.S. retail sales and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell speech, and earnings reports on Friday. Stay Alert!

What to WatchToken EventsConferences:Token TalkBy Shaurya MalwaWho dropped the price of $OM?

Before the $OM crash(since Apr 7), at least 17 wallets deposited 43.6M $OM($227M at the time) into exchanges, 4.5% of the circulating supply. According to Arkham’s tag, 2 of these addresses are linked to Laser Digital. Laser Digital is a strategic partner of Mantra DAO and helped launch the RWA project in 2021. One of the addresses received 1.43B $OM from Mantra DAO in 2021.

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