Investing.com– The price of bitcoin barely moved in the Asian session on Friday, while cryptocurrency prices generally retreated as forecasts of smaller interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve caused traders will turn largely towards the dollar.
A further move towards a spot Ether exchange-traded fund also did little to shore up sentiment towards cryptocurrency markets.
It fell 0.9% in the last 24 hours to $67,030.4 at 01:56 a.m. (CET) (05:56 GMT). The token had fallen as low as $66,000 on Thursday, when the dollar rebounded sharply from its one-month lows.
The token was also headed for weekly losses as heightened fears of high interest rates largely offset improved capital flows into crypto investment products.
MicroStrategy Incorporated's (NASDAQ:) plans to buy more Bitcoin by issuing $500 million bonds also failed to stimulate much price action.
Bitcoin Heads for Weekly Losses as Rate Fears Rise
The world's largest cryptocurrency was trading down 3.3% over the past seven days as angst over high long-term US interest rates hit the cryptocurrency's outlook.
While weaker-than-expected US inflation data had initially weighed on the dollar, Bitcoin received little support from this trend after the Federal Reserve said it only saw the possibility of an interest rate cut this year. , compared to previous forecasts of three cuts.
This caused traders to largely discount expectations of multiple rate cuts, particularly affecting speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies. High rates bode poorly for cryptocurrencies as they limit overall liquidity conditions and also discourage betting on high-risk speculative assets.
The dollar benefited from this operation, recovering from a one-month low.
Crypto Price Today: Ether Unenthused About ETF Progress
Broader cryptocurrency prices moved in a stable-to-low range as concerns about high interest rates largely offset some positive developments toward a spot Ether ETF.
rose 0.2% to $3,515.79 and was the only positive altcoin trade. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler said in Senate testimony that he expected the regulator to fully approve spot Ether ETFs by summer.
The token rose as much as 1% but quickly erased most of the gains in late trading on Thursday.
Other altcoins fell heavily. and they lost more than 2% each.
Among memecoins, they fell by about 0.5% each.
