Bitcoin traded flat, while other leading cryptocurrencies surged Wednesday even as AI juggernaut NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) reported better-than-expected second-quarter numbers.

What Happened: Bitcoin consolidated in the $59,000-$60,000 range, following a sharp decline Tuesday that sent it to its lowest level in over a week.

Ethereum recouped losses from the day before, rising above $2,500 and reaching an intraday high of $2,552.

The total cryptocurrency liquidations exceeded $164 million in the last 24 hours, with $95 million in bullish bets getting wiped out.

Short positions for Bitcoin declined faster than longs in the last 24 hours.

Bitcoin's Open Interest fell 1.83% in the last 24 hours, while money locked in Ethereum's unsettled future contracts rose 1.79%.

The market remained engulfed in "Fear" as of this writing, according to the Cryptocurrency Fear & Greed Index.

Top Gainers (24-Hours)

The global cryptocurrency market stood at $2.09 trillion, rising 0.71% in the last 24 hours.

Stocks reversed after Tuesday's gains. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 198.79 points, or 1.12%, to close at 17,556.03. The broad-based S&P 500 index dipped 0.6% to end at 5,592.18. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.39% to finish at 41,091.42.

The pullback came amid AI powerhouse NVIDIA's decline, which closed 2.1% lower during Wednesday's trading session.

The company disclosed its second-quarter earnings and revenue after market close, which more than doubled from a year earlier and improved over the previous quarter.

Analyst Notes: Popular analytics firm Santiment noted steady Bitcoin accumulation by whales and sharks over the past month, while traders with smaller holdings dumped their coins.

"Over the past month, wallets with 10-10,000 BTC have collectively accumulated 133,300 more coins while smaller traders continue to impatiently drop their holdings to them," the research firm revealed.

Bitcoin currently sits at $58.9K, which is apparently just fine for whale and shark holders. Over the past month, wallets with 10-10K BTC have collectively accumulated 133.3K more coins while smaller traders continue to impatiently drop their holdings to them. pic.twitter.com/CmOU1tdVwN

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) August 28, 2024

Widely-followed cryptocurrency analyst Michaël van de Poppe noted Ethereum's bullish divergence against Bitcoin.

"The last time we've seen this, it marked the low in January 2021 and in September 2019," Van de Poppe stated. "If this cycle is repeating those patterns, and we're at 2019, party is on the horizon."

A VALID Daily bullish divergence on #Ethereum against #Bitcoin.
The last time we've seen this, it marked the low in January 2021 and in September 2019.
If this cycle is repeating those patterns, and we're at 2019, party is on the horizon. pic.twitter.com/qApZzyMR8B

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) August 28, 2024