Bitcoin’s price exhibited minimal movement on Thursday following a volatile session, as the Federal Reserve’s projection of sustained high interest rates overshadowed indications of near-term inflation easing.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency recorded a modest increase of 0.4% over the past 24 hours, reaching $67,484.6 by 02:05 ET (06:05 GMT). Despite a week marked by significant fluctuations, with Bitcoin surging to $70,000 before experiencing sharp declines, the market remained relatively stable.
Traders demonstrated a cautious stance towards Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market amidst expectations of prolonged high interest rates in the United States. While the Fed opted to maintain rates unchanged on Wednesday, Chair Jerome Powell’s announcement of a potential single rate cut this year, in contrast to previous expectations of three cuts, influenced market sentiment.
Several policymakers advocated against rate cuts, emphasizing the necessity of further progress in curbing inflation. The Fed also revised its inflation forecast for the year upwards. Despite Bitcoin seeing some gains following lower-than-anticipated inflation data earlier in the day, it encountered losses post the Fed’s statements.
The outlook of high interest rates unfavorably impacts speculative assets like cryptocurrencies, as it restricts liquidity available for investment in the sector. Although recent capital flow data indicated continued inflows from institutional investors into crypto, this was not adequately reflected in token prices.
Attention now shifts to the producer price index inflation data for additional insights into U.S. inflation trends, scheduled for release later on Thursday.
Altcoins Experience Declines Amid Rate Concerns
The anticipation of prolonged high U.S. interest rates also influenced broader cryptocurrency prices.
Ether, the second-largest token globally, declined by 0.3% to $3,499.09, relinquishing some of its previous month’s gains.
Meanwhile, ADA, XRP, and SOL witnessed modest increases ranging between 0.6% and 1.7%, yet remained down for the week.
Among meme tokens, SHIB recorded a 1.6% decline, while DOGE saw a 3% rise. However, sentiment towards both tokens appeared to be cooling in line with diminishing interest in meme stocks on Wall Street.
GameStop Corp (NYSE) experienced further losses on Wednesday, erasing most of the gains seen in late May.
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