Bitcoin and major alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) trade weak ahead of the pivotal U.S. CPI release.One observer said the pullback could soon run out of steam as selling pressure from wallets with a history of holding coins for the long term is weakening.Bitcoin {{BTC}} is on the defensive under $69,000, nursing a 2.5% drop on a 24-hour basis, having briefly climbed to a high of $69,300 during the Asian trading hours.

Profit-taking from Monday continued as several major tokens slid lower. Ether and Solana’s SOL lost 2.8% and Cardano’s ADA and dogecoin (DOGE) slumped as much as 4%. BNB Chain’s BNB was the only token in green with a slight 1.8% rise.

The broad-based CoinDesk 20, a liquid index of the biggest tokens, excluding stablecoins, was down 3%.

The Asian session demand for bitcoin and leading altcoins represented trade optimism, FxPro Senior Market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich told CoinDesk in a message, warning of potential volatility explosion following the release of the U.S. consumer price index later Wednesday.

“The U.S. CPI report, which in recent years has caused a spike in volatility comparable to NFP [nonfarm payrolls report], has an impressive potential to influence the market on Wednesday,” said Kuptsikevich.

Still, some analysts said bitcoin correction could be over. Selling pressure from certain long-term wallets seems to have cooled in recent weeks, alongside a bump in demand for spot bitcoin, on-chain analysis firm Glassnode said in a Tuesday report.

“Bitcoin’s strong performance over the last 12 months is supported by a surge in spot trade volume and exchange deposit and withdrawal volumes,” analysts at blockchain data tracking firm Glassnode wrote. “Profit-taking by long-term holders spiked meaningfully into the $73k ATH and has been cooling down in recent weeks. This comes alongside an uptick in new demand brought on by the U.S. spot ETFs.”

The firm defines long-term holders as wallets that keep a token for more than 155 days instead of trading over weekly or daily periods.