The preferred inflation indicator of the Federal Reserve, the Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index, shows that inflation in the country remains sticky, rising 2.8% in March compared to the same period last year, higher than the expected 2.7%. This has prompted many traders to reassess their risk exposure.
The cryptocurrency market performed poorly at the end of this week, with Bitcoin continuing to test around the key level of $64,000, and most altcoins experiencing a slight decline. According to data from Bitpush, the trading price of Bitcoin for the day ranged between $63,300 and $64,825, with bulls and bears evenly matched. As of the time of writing, the trading price of Bitcoin is $63,897, a 1.4% decrease in the past 24 hours.
ETF outflows continue to increase, with market data showing a daily net outflow of $217 million from the US-listed spot BTC ETF. This brings the total outflow for the week to $244.49 million. In comparison, Bitcoin has risen by around 3.7% in the past 7 days. JPMorgan Chase stated that the correlation between the price of Bitcoin ETFs and inflows has weakened, dropping from a high of 0.84 in January to a recent estimate of 0.60.
Most altcoins saw a decline this week, with the majority of the top 200 tokens recording losses. Among the rising altcoins, BinaryX (BNX) led the way with an 18.5% increase, trading at $1.06, followed by Helium (HNT) with a 7.35% increase, and Neo with a 6.7% increase. Cat in a dogs world (MEW) experienced the largest decrease of the day, falling 14.3%, followed by Arweave (AR) and Pendle (PENDLE) with a 9.8% decline.
The current total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies is $2.36 trillion, with Bitcoin’s dominance rate at 53.4%.
Despite the higher-than-expected inflation data, US stocks closed higher this week due to the earnings reports from Alphabet and Microsoft, which sparked hopes of a rebound in large tech stocks. The S&P, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq indices rose by 1.02%, 0.40%, and 2.03% respectively. The US dollar index rose by 0.41% due to the PCE report, with a trading price of 106.02 at the time of writing, while the yield on the US 10-year Treasury bond fell by 88 basis points to 4.665%.
MN Trading founder and CEO Michaël van de Poppe stated that the boring price movement of Bitcoin could continue for the next three to six months, which could lead to increased activity in the altcoin market. CryptoChiefs, a market analyst, stated that the market is currently 50/50 on whether it will go down or up, but personally, they would buy on dips. Castillo Trading, another market analyst, expressed a similar sentiment, stating that they would buy on dips and that the market is currently at a point of frustration.
Rachel Lin, co-founder and CEO of SynFutures, stated in a report that the bears sold off during the strong rebound earlier this week, while the anticipated Bitcoin halving had no significant impact on the price trend. Lin pointed out that looking at the Bitcoin price chart during the previous halving cycle, “there will be a period of consolidation or downward trend in the weeks following the halving until BTC breaks the previous high, currently at 73,600 points. The recent support continues to hold at the level of 60,000 points, which was strongly rebounded after touching that area last Friday, indicating its importance. If the price stays above 60,000, we may see a sideways trend. However, breaking this level could trigger a strong sell-off.” Lin expects the price trend of Bitcoin to remain volatile and consolidate in the short term. Currently, the levels of 60,000 and 67,500 are still important to watch. If 60,000 points are broken, the next strong support area will be between 50,000 and 52,000, indicating a 15% decrease in the BTC price.
By BitpushNews Mary Liu