Markets
Bitcoin Hits $66,000 Amid Rally in Cryptocurrency Markets
Bitcoin rose above the $66,000 level on Wednesday for the first time since April 24, posting a massive 7% gain over the past 24 hours. At the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin was still up 6.2%, reaching a high of $65,800.
Bitcoin (BTC) price 24 hours a day graphicSource: CoinMarketCap
Analysts at Swissblock attributed the boom to bullish economic data and the overall cryptocurrency market rally. The firm pointed out that recent US economic data, led by the consumer price index and retail sales, predicts that Bitcoin could rise to $69,000 and potentially reach a new high of $84,000.
Swissblock’s latest market update also noted that such a breakout could lead to strong altcoin performance.
Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) posted modest gains, trading near $3,000 with a gain of 4%, while Solana (SOL) and Near (NEAR) posted major gains in the cryptocurrency sector with increases of 8% respectively. and 11%.
The rally in cryptocurrencies has also been consistent with solid gains in US stocks. The S&P 500 gained more than 1% to a new all-time high, clearly indicating that investors are once again more willing to take risks following the weakness in April’s CPI reading. This resulted in a modest easing of inflationary pressures, in turn raising hopes that the Fed’s rate hikes would be slow and measured.
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