Bitcoin rose 0.6% in the past 24 hours to $71,327.6 by 01:55 ET (05:55 GMT). The token was set to add over 5% this week after it broke out of a $60,000 to $70,000 trading range established since mid-March.
Bitcoin and broader crypto prices were boosted by growing expectations that the Fed will begin cutting interest rates by September.
A slew of weak U.S. economic readings supported this notion, as traders bet that a cooling U.S. economy will give the Fed more confidence to loosen monetary policy. The dollar tumbled this week, also benefiting risk-driven assets.
The readings came ahead of key nonfarm payrolls data, which is due later on Friday and is expected to offer more definitive cues on the labor market and interest rates.
Looser monetary conditions bode well for risk-heavy, speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies, given that they free up more capital that can be then directed towards speculative plays into crypto.
Bitcoin was trading less than $3,000 below a record high, as expectations of lower rates spurred a heavy dose of institutional capital flows into exchange-traded funds linked to the cryptocurrency.
Hype over the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs for U.S. markets was a key factor behind the cryptocurrency’s run to record highs earlier this year.
Analysts said that the prospect of lower rates could spark another record high rally for the token in the near-term.
Among broader crypto markets, major altcoins also kept to a tight trading range on Friday, in anticipation of more cues on U.S. rates.
But most tokens were set for some weekly gains, amid expectations of lower rates and as optimism over a spot Ether ETF persisted.
World no.2 token Ether fell 0.8% to $3,814.40, and was trading flat for the week.
Altcoins XRP, SOL and ADA tread water, and were up between 1% and 3% this week.
Among memetokens, SHIB and DOGE fell slightly. They also took little support from some resurgence in the meme trade, after major meme stock GME rose sharply this week.
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