Bitcoin, Ethereum Rise after Concerns about Price Pressure
The Bitcoin, Ethereum and other biggest cryptocurrencies pushed higher on Monday after concerns about price pressure from the quadrennial bitcoin halving event on Friday evening proved to be a non-starter.
Bitcoin was up 1.2% in the past 24 hours to trade at $65,973, data compiled by CoinMarketCap showed. Ethereum, the second-biggest of the digital assets, was up 0.9%, trading at $3,206.
The global crypto market cap was up 1.7%, to $2.43 trillion. The CoinDesk Market Index, which tracks digital assets, was up 1.6% in the past 24 hours.
The latest halving event set by bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto occurred Friday, cutting the number of bitcoins that will be issued as a reward for mining a block to 3.125 BTC from 6.25 BTC.
Analysts at JP Morgan (JPM) last week forecast a decline in bitcoin following the reward halving, CoinDesk reported last week. They said the market is still in overbought conditions, based on its analysis of open interest in bitcoin futures.
While investors focus on a busy week for corporate quarterly earnings, including from Tesla (TSLA), Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), and the communications blackout period is in effect for Federal Reserve policymakers ahead of next week’s rate decision meeting.
On Tuesday, the April flash Purchasing Managers’ Index will be released, while on Thursday, the advance estimate of first-quarter economic growth will be issued. The previous quarter showed a 3.4% change.
On Friday, personal income and outlays will be released, including the personal consumption expenditure core price index that’s closely watched by the Fed as a measure of inflation in the world’s biggest economy.
