Bitcoin fails to hold $63,000

8 Ekim 2024

Bitcoin fails to hold $63,000 amid weak risk appetite, growing selling pressure

Market comment on behalf of Samer Hasn, Senior Market Analyst at XS.com

Bitcoin remains below $63,000 after failing to hold above it over the past two days. Ethereum is
also struggling to reclaim $2,440. The crypto market has been trading sideways since the
beginning of this week.

The cautious moves in the crypto market come amid uncertainty over a range of economic and
political factors in the US and geopolitics in the Middle East.

Add to that the potential selling pressure that the US government may exert with its permission
to sell around 70,000 Bitcoin. The Supreme Court has allowed the US Marshals Service to
proceed with the sale of 69,370 Bitcoins seized from the Silk Road online store, which would be
the largest sale of its kind in history. While the nature and pace of this selling is not yet known, it
will not necessarily put downward pressure on prices if it is done in over-the-counter (OTC)
transactions, according to Beincrypto.

As for the economic side, in light of the surprise labor market numbers that were much better
than expected and Jerome Powell’s hawkish speech, hopes for a rapid continuation of interest
rate cuts this year have diminished. While the relatively high rates remain for a longer period and
the continued rise in Treasury bond yields will weaken appetite for risky assets in general,
including cryptocurrencies.

Whereas, after the hypothesis of a half-percentage point cut at the next November meeting was
the most likely, it has now become excluded in the Fed Fund futures market, and the probability
of a quarter-percentage point cut has become 87%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. The
remaining 13% is for the possibility of keeping current rates unchanged.

The state of caution may also prevail in the markets in the coming weeks, as we anticipate the
presidential elections in the United States, which will begin next month. While the outcome of
these elections could cause a structural shift in the crypto industry.

Far away, in the Middle East, markets are still anticipating the nature of the expected escalation
in the region, especially regarding the nature of the Israeli response to the unprecedented attack
from Iran and the nature of the counter-response. While one of the most prominent scenarios is
targeting energy facilities, which would bring inflation back to the forefront, which in turn may
require central banks to keep interest rates high.

 

Zaid Barem / YMM