After the late-business week pump and dump that drove BTC to a six-day high, the cryptocurrency has returned to $26,000 as it did during the last weekend as well.

Most altcoins are also calmer today, with XRP and SHIB standing out as the top performers from the larger-cap ones.

BTC Back to $26K

August 17 became one of the worst trading days for bitcoin this year when the primary digital asset plummeted by over $3,000 to register a two-month low of just over $25,300. It managed to bounce off rather quickly and reclaimed $26,000 by the time the weekend had arrived.

The next several days were quiet as BTC failed to move in either direction. A more notable price dip came on Wednesday, followed by an immediate surge to a six-day high of $26,800.

However, bitcoin failed to reclaim the $27,000 level, and the subsequent rejection pushed it back down to $26,000 on Friday. The past 24 hours have been uneventful as well, and the cryptocurrency stands at around $26,000 once again.