Bitcoin Flat Near $61K as Whales Continue to Accumulate; XRP Down 10% as SEC Appeals Case+ tite

PLUS: AI tokens not moving despite a $6.6 billion fundraise from OpenAI.

Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) continued in the red at the start of Asian trading hours Thursday as the market withstood another sell-off.

BTC is flat, trading above $61,100, while ETH is down 4% and trading at $2,390. Crypto markets took a hit from Tuesday night after Irani airstrikes on Israel, which the latter has vowed to retaliate, in a move that has dented a rally in risk assets, including bitcoin.

However, whales continue to accumulate bitcoin at unprecedented rates despite the macro environment and market dullness, CryptoQuant founder Ki Young-Ju said in an X post.

Whales colloquially refer to influential entities that hold largest amounts of any asset – and on-chain data shows new bitcoin whales are making sizeable purchases in anticipation of a bull run ahead.