Crypto Prices Pare Gains as Sentiment Turns Negative

Bitcoin's price decline has slowed after reaching $86,500 earlier in the day. The cryptocurrency had been rising in response to weaker-than-expected jobs numbers. Ethereum and XRP have also pared their gains, with social sentiment turning negative. According to data provider Santiment, Ethereum's social sentiment is at its lowest since June 7, with a ratio of 0.89 bullish comments to bearish comments. XRP's ratio is even lower, at 0.67, its weakest reading since August 17. Santiment notes that heavy pessimism can create a contrarian setup, with most traders already expecting prices to fall, potentially causing panic selling to have already occurred.

The firm also flagged that long-dormant Ethereum moved on September 30, at a scale not seen since early June. Age consumed, a metric tracking how long moved coins sat untouched, hit 580 million token-days that day, roughly 9x the September weekday average. Exchange supply rose about 18,000 ETH that day before falling roughly 21,000 the next. Santiment notes that it can't yet confirm who moved these coins, but past spikes of this size have often reflected wallet reshuffling rather than holders cashing out.

Ethereum ETFs lost $55.37 million on October 1, in a third straight outflow session, bringing combined withdrawals to $117.76 million. XRP spot ETFs pulled in $4.07 million on October 1, ending two sessions of zero net flows and pushing this week's total inflows to $8.03 million. XRP is coiling inside a broadening wedge, with price holding above every EMA. RSI at 57.53 shows steady, non-extended momentum.