Bitcoin
Flat at $69K as Rate Fears Rise Ahead of FOMC, CPI By Investing.com
Investing.com – The price of Bitcoin remained mostly stable on Monday after a sharp drop over the weekend saw the cryptocurrency pull back from recent highs, with a direct focus on more key signals about US interest rates.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency reached US$72,000 last week, coming very close to the record highs reached in March. But then it saw a heavy dose of profit taking and weakness from Friday following the dollar’s recovery.
fell 0.3% in the last 24 hours to $69,446.5 at 08:51 ET (12:51 GMT).
Bitcoin price stabilizes with Fed meeting, CPI in focus
Bitcoin’s weekend decline came on the heels of a warmer-than-expected reading that caused traders to largely rethink recent bets that the Federal Reserve would begin cutting rates in September.
This notion boosted , which in turn weighed on broader cryptocurrency prices.
The payrolls reading also brought an upcoming Fed meeting into focus, with the central bank widely expected to do so at the conclusion of a two-day meeting on Wednesday.
But the Fed’s outlook on rates will be closely watched.
Ahead of the Fed’s rate decision, inflation data will also be released on Wednesday. The reading is expected to show that inflation remains well above the Fed’s 2% annual target, giving the central bank little confidence to start cutting rates.
Higher rates for longer bode poorly for Bitcoin and broader cryptocurrencies, given that the sector generally benefits from increased liquidity and flexible lending conditions.
Crypto Price Today: Altcoins Largely in Red
Broader crypto markets also suffered sharp losses over the weekend as fears of high rates weighed on the sector. They were also hit by profit taking after some gains in May.
The world’s No. 2 token fell 0.6% to $3,680.27 on Monday after losing nearly 4% on Friday.
and rose 0.7% and 0.1%, respectively, while falling 1.5%. Among meme coins, and fell 1.3% and 1.8% respectively.
Bitcoin ETFs saw weekly inflows of $2 billion; ETH could reach $10,000 in 2024, traders say
Crypto investment products saw nearly $2 billion in inflows last week, extending a five-week streak to more than $4.3 billion, asset manager CoinShares said in a Monday report.
Exchange-traded products (ETPs) trading volumes increased to $12.8 billion for the week, a 55% increase from the previous week. Bitcoin led the way with inflows of over $1.97 billion, while Ether had its best week since March with nearly $70 million in inflows.
Interest in US spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has surged since mid-May following a slow April that saw zero net inflows on some days and even outflows from key products like BlackRock’s (NYSE: IBIT) IBIT. ). . Since then, flows have increased, making IBIT the largest bitcoin ETF, accumulating more than $20 billion in assets since its launch in January.
“Unusually, inflows were observed across nearly all providers, with a continued slowdown in outflows from incumbents,” the CoinShares note said. “Positive price action has seen total assets under management (AuM) rise above the $100 billion mark for the first time since March this year.”
Butterfill noted that the increase in ETH buying was likely in response to the SEC’s unexpected decision to allow spot ether ETFs.
Meanwhile, some traders anticipate that inflows into ETH products will continue in the coming months, with a potential recovery expected later in the year.
“$5-10 billion in new capital could be channeled through Ether products in the short to medium term,” digital asset manager Tyr Capital told CoinDesk. “This could drive a year-end rally in ETH and its ecosystem to new highs.”
“A price target of $10,000 in 2024 is now a reasonable target, especially when other supporting factors, such as ETH now being deflationary, are taken into account,” he added.