Bitcoin consolidates near $82.5K as crypto weathers Ledger theft reports

Bitcoin and crypto markets eyed a recovery from Thursday’s drop despite concerns of another hardware wallet exploit.

Bitcoin (BTC) sought to avoid fresh losses on Friday as crypto markets digested reports of an exploit affecting Ledger hardware wallets.

Key points:

• Bitcoin rebounded from local lows of $80,350 to reclaim $83,000 at the Wall Street open.
• Crypto markets avoided significant selling pressure following reports of funds being stolen from Ledger hardware wallet users.
• BTC/USD continued to trade around $82,500 as traders looked ahead to the weekly close.

BTC price rebounds to $83,000 despite Ledger theft reports

Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD hovering around the key $82,500 support level on Friday.

BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

After dropping to $80,350 on Thursday, BTC/USD saw fresh buyer interest as rolling 24-hour crypto liquidations passed $1 billion.

The latest data from CoinGlass showed spot price cutting through ask-side liquidity on exchange order books, with that liquidity thickening around $84,000.

BTC liquidation heatmap. Source: CoinGlass

US stocks opened higher Friday as technology shares rebounded from selling earlier in the week. The recovery included the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index, which CNBC reported had come under pressure following weaker-than-expected earnings projections from OpenAI.

“The sell-off reflected extreme positioning imbalances that have further to unwind in our view, which is why the whole AI-linked tech stock complex is unlikely to simply stage a sharp, V-shaped rebound,” the publication quoted Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge as commenting.

Crypto markets appeared to brush off reports of funds being stolen from Ledger hardware wallet users. In an X post, Ledger acknowledged the claims and linked them to CryptoBillis, a reseller based in Southeast Asia.

“If you have set up your Ledger device, consider moving assets to a new Ledger signer (with new seed),” it advised.

Crypto hardware wallets have faced increased security scrutiny in recent months after manufacturer Coldcard suffered a multi-phase hack in July and August.

US macro data seen as next BTC price volatility catalyst

Bitcoin traders were increasingly focused on the upcoming weekly candle close.

As Cointelegraph reported, $82,500 remained a key level for bulls to reclaim, having served as support since mid-September. The level also formed part of a potential inverse head-and-shoulders reversal pattern similar to one that emerged in 2023.

On Wednesday, Bitfinex Alpha, the research arm of crypto exchange Bitfinex, forecast range-bound trading conditions continuing until Oct. 14, when fresh US inflation data is due for release.

“Our primary outlook anticipates range-bound consolidation between $81,300 and $86,500 heading into the 14 October US CPI data, with repeated retests of $84,000,” it wrote in a blog post.

Related: Binance BTC outflows hit highest since mid-2023 as whales deposit stablecoins

Subscribe to daily byte-sized crypto news from Cointelegraph

More on the subject