Bitcoin falls below $79,000 as profit-taking stalls a 20% rally

Bitcoin’s week-long rally just hit a wall. After surging more than 20% from August 17 to a peak of roughly $81,255 on August 24, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap has slipped below $79,000 and spent the past few days trading in a narrow band between $78,000 and $79,000. The pullback has wiped out over $88 million in Bitcoin liquidations alone, part of a broader $302 million liquidation event across the crypto derivatives market. What happened to the rally Profit-taking kicked in almost immediately after Bitcoin touched $81,255. From August 25 through August 27, Bitcoin failed to reclaim the $80,000 level on multiple attempts. Resistance sits firmly in the $80,000 to $82,500 zone. On the downside, analysts have flagged $76,500 as the critical support level, roughly 3% below where Bitcoin is trading now. Losing that floor would open the door to a more meaningful correction. The macro backdrop Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh is scheduled to speak at the Jackson Hole symposium on August 28, and traders across asset classes are positioning defensively ahead of those remarks. The $302 million in market-wide liquidations reflects that dynamic. Traders who rode the rally with leve...