Bitcoin Price, XRP Fall. Why the Crypto Rally Is Stalling. — Barrons.com

By Adam ClarkBitcoin and most other cryptocurrencies were falling on Wednesday. The announcement of a U.S.-Japan trade deal appeared to boost stock markets but cryptos weren't beneficiaries.While futures on the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2% in premarket trading, the sentiment boost didn't really translate to cryptocurrencies. That could be down to crypto's strong recent rally — Bitcoin is up more than 10% in July, while popular altcoin XRP has climbed 55% over the same period.Bitcoin's price was down 0.5% over the past 24 hours early on Wednesday, at around $118,346, falling from its 24-hour high of above $120,000. The world's largest cryptocurrency hit a record high of $123,166 last week amid excitement over crypto-related legislation championed by the Trump administration.Several large altcoins were falling. Ether dropped 0.8%, XRP fell 1.3%, and Solana dropped 0.5%. Memecoin Dogecoin was down 4.3%."It seems that we are seeing calendar rhythms, with increased inflows at the beginning of the month and caution at the end," wrote Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, in a research note. "Cryptocurrencies are ignoring the positive sentiment on the stock markets: technical factors are temporarily dominating the agenda."While the U.S.-Japan deal has little direct effect on the cryptocurrency market, reduced trade tensions could increase confidence in investing in volatile assets, such as cryptocurrencies.Meanwhile, there continue to be signs of further interest in cryptocurrency from traditional financial institutions. PNC Financial Services Group and Coinbase Global said Tuesday they will partner and offer services to each other. PNC will use the "Crypto-as-a-Service" platform of Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., to offer crypto access for its clients.Write to Adam Clark at [email protected] content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.