Bitcoin Price Slides over Profit-Takings
The world’s largest digital asset, Bitcoin, in addition to other cryptocurrencies traded bearishly on Frida, with analysts eyeing profit-taking and portfolio reshuffling as a remarkable first quarter comes to a close.
Economic data due in the day ahead loom as a key catalyst.
The price of Bitcoin has fallen 2.5% over the past 24 hours to $27,850, according to the market data from the crypto exchange. The largest digital asset briefly topped $29,000 in Thursday trading, marking its highest level since the crypto crash accelerated last June.
Despite paring gains since, Bitcoin is on track to close out a booming first quarter of 2023 that has spurred calls for a new bull market, having started the year amid multi-year lows around $16,500.
“Bitcoin shrugged off regulatory headwinds and tested $29,000 on Thursday only to face selling pressure from whales. The number of Bitcoin addresses holding more than 100 Bitcoin is on a steep decline in recent days, suggesting some whales are taking profit from the recent Bitcoin rally,” said Yuya Hasegawa, an analyst at crypto exchange Bitbank.
Despite regulatory pressures, digital assets have marched higher in recent weeks propelled by expectations that the Federal Reserve will become more accommodative on monetary policy.
An aggressive campaign of interest-rate hikes by the Fed over the past year — a bid to control decades-high inflation — battered cryptos and stocks and made Bitcoin more correlated with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500.
Macro catalysts remain key for cryptos, which is why the release Friday of the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index for February — the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation — looms large.
If the data show signs that inflation continues to cool, it could boost bets that the Fed won’t hike interest after its next policy decision in May, possibly fueling more gains for Bitcoin.
Beyond Bitcoin, Ether — the second-largest crypto — slipped less than 1% to just shy of $1,800. Smaller cryptos or altcoins were more mixed, with Cardano climbing 3% but Polygon losing 2%.
Memecoins were slightly weaker, with both Dogecoin and Shiba Inu shedding less than 1%. The market is expecting a rebound amidst the crisis in the United States banking sector. # Bitcoin Price Slides over Profit-Takings