Investing.com– The price of bitcoin rose on Wednesday, boosted by rising expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts as weak economic data continued to arrive, which also helped the token break out of a recent trading range .
This trend also boosted cryptocurrency prices in general, as capital flows into the space increased over the past month. The launch of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in Australia also pointed to more capital inflows in the near term.
A drop this week also helped the crypto markets.
rose 2.7% in the last 24 hours to $70,917.7 at 01:43 ET (05:43 GMT).
Bitcoin breaks out of trading range and approaches all-time highs
The world's largest cryptocurrency broke a trading range between $60,000 and $70,000 seen since mid-March, and was now trading about $3,000 away from a new high.
A combination of profit-taking, concerns about high interest rates, and cooling optimism about Bitcoin ETFs had kept Bitcoin in a trading range after the token hit record highs in early March.
But interest in cryptocurrencies now appeared to be picking up, especially with the prospect of lower interest rates this year.
High-risk assets, such as cryptocurrencies, generally benefit from lower interest rates, as greater liquidity leads to more speculative trading.
Crypto Price Today: Altcoins Advance With Rate Signs In Progress
Broader altcoin prices also advanced on Wednesday as weak US economic data improved expectations of eventual interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
World no. 2 token rose 0.7%, while y rose between 0.9% and 5%.
Among meme tokens, they increased by 8% and added 3.1%.
Expectations of a rate cut in September rose after weaker-than-expected data was released on Tuesday.
The reading was preceded by weak data, as well as a downward revision in the US for the first quarter.
But while the readings raised bets on a rate cut in September, the focus this week was still on upcoming data for more definitive signals on the labor market and interest rates.
