Bitcoin cools off after setting Fifth record High in a week

Bitcoin fell below $70,000 following its fifth consecutive record high in 7 days, as investors withdrew from riskier assets across financial markets. The leading cryptocurrency asset reached an all-time high of $73,797 on Thursday but then dropped as much as 6.3 percent to $68,549.

Solana, Litecoin, and Ether were among the other tokens that dropped. Bitcoin was trading at $71,400 at the time of this publication, down roughly 2% from the previous day.
According to CoinGlass data, the volatility liquidated over $360 million worth of leveraged derivatives positions across all cryptocurrency markets, primarily longs betting on rising prices. Since the correction on March 5, this has been the longest flush-out.

US stocks dropped and Treasury yields increased following a heated inflation report that confirmed expectations that the Federal Reserve will not quickly lower interest rates, despite signs of weakness in certain sectors of the economy.

The allure of crypto assets typically increases with lower interest rates. Bitcoin’s narrative as a secure and valuable store of value is attracting significant investment. Institutional interest: As Bitcoin ETFs have grown, several traditional financial institutions are endorsing the underlying infrastructure of Bitcoin. Because increased investment in Bitcoin is made in the “safer” asset within an already risky asset class.

The likelihood of a much looser monetary policy in 2024 is gradually declining. Markets entered the year expecting the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by as much as 150 basis points in 2024, with the first reduction scheduled for the Federal Open Market Committee meeting the following week.

Meanwhile, some of the most speculative tokens in the meme coin market were still experiencing a frenzy. According to tracker CoinGecko, Dogwifhat recorded a gain of more than a fifth of its value in the previous day. The aggregate market capitalization of meme coins has surpassed $60 billion, and the weekly trading volume of the most valuable meme coins has approached $80 billion, according to data from blockchain data firm Kaiko.