Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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Bitcoin is up by over 1% in the last 24 hours and is trading above $68k.
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The broader market has been consolidating in recent weeks, with BTC trading around the $70k region.
BTC Trades Above $68k
Bitcoin, the world’s leading cryptocurrency by market cap, is trading above the $68k level once again. BTC and the other major cryptocurrencies have been consolidating in recent weeks, with no clear price direction at the moment.
The coin has added more than 1% to its value over the last 24 hours and it is currently trading at $68,682 per coin. The neutral performance over the weekend came after the U.S. PCE inflation data report on Friday. The U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation remained steady at 2.7% on a yearly basis in April.
With inflation still sticky, analysts believe it is becoming less likely that the Fed will cut interest rates this year. Nansen.ai Principle Research Analyst Aurelie Barthere pointed out that there are sustained downside risks the longer the market stays in this high-rate regime. Barthere said,
"A growth slowdown would not be positive for crypto. In the meantime, we’re tactically constructive on crypto but alert to signs of weak growth."
Altcoins have also been consolidating, with Ether still trading below $4k. Ether is up by less than 1% in the last 24 hours and is currently trading at $3,815 per coin.
Thanks to the market’s consolidation, the total cryptocurrency market cap remains at $2.55 trillion.
