Leading cryptocurrencies stalled on Wednesday after the July Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, rose 3.7% year over year, above economists' 3.6% forecast. Bitcoin traded between $77,600 and $79,200 but failed to reclaim $80,000, while its 24-hour trading volume fell 35%. At 9:17 p.m. EDT, Bitcoin was down 0.26% at $78,636.17, Ethereum was up 1.36% at $2,489.15, XRP fell 2.78% to $1.40, Solana gained 3.84% to $100.68 and Dogecoin slipped 0.15% to $0.08632. Ethereum briefly reached $2,500 before consolidating, while buying pressure remained subdued. Nearly $260 million was liquidated from the cryptocurrency market over 24 hours, shorts outpaced long liquidations, and Bitcoin's open interest (the value of outstanding derivatives contracts) declined 1.95%, a combination that typically suggests long-position buyers are exiting. Derivatives sentiment remained neutral, with neither retail traders nor whales showing a clear bias. The global cryptocurrency market capitalization fell 0.79% to $2.2 trillion. Among cryptocurrencies with market capitalizations above $100 million, Non-Playable Coin gained 29.77% to $0.01666, Cash Cat rose 26.81% to $0.2360 and Cysic climbed 25.72% to $0.8374. Strategy Inc. and Coinbase Global Inc. both closed down 2.87%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.21% to 53,463.88, the S&P 500 was broadly unchanged at 7,675.70 and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.08% to 26,130.20. The odds of unchanged interest rates rose from 60% to 63% in 24 hours, according to the CME FedWatch tool, with traders focused on Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's Jackson Hole address on Friday ahead of the Sept. 16 policy meeting. Michaël van de Poppe said Bitcoin's structure remained intact and identified $76,400 and $77,100 as potential support levels, while warning that losing them could trigger a deeper correction. Santiment said Bitcoin's rally of about 25% over 10 days had not drawn in retail traders, with weighted crowd sentiment turning negative again as the price recovered.