Bitcoin
and other cryptocurrencies fell on Monday, slipping back into a trading range that has dominated for much of the past month after a brief spike last week. U.S. economic data may be the next catalyst for a move in cryptos.
The price of Bitcoin has declined 1.5% over the past 24 hours to below $26,800, with the largest digital asset firmly back in the range between $26,000 and $27,000 that has mostly held since early May. While Bitcoin breached $30,000 in April—its highest point since last June and the zenith of a rally that has carried it some two-thirds higher this year—it has failed to consolidate gains, with a jump above $28,000 last week being short-lived.
A major looming catalyst for cryptos will be the next monetary policy decision from the Federal Reserve, due next week. The Fed’s dramatic campaign of inflation-fighting interest-rate hikes since early 2022 has been a key headwind for digital assets, but investors increasingly expect the central bank to hit the pause button this month.
Before the June 13-14 meeting of the Fed’s policy-setting committee, Bitcoin—like the
Dow Jones Industrial Average,
S&P 500,
and the rest of the stock market—will likely react to economic data. This week, the highlight may come Monday with the ISM services purchasing managers’ index (
PMI
) for May, in addition to the S&P U.S. services PMI for last month and April factory orders. Traders will want to see signs of easing in the services sector and other indicators that inflation is moderating.
Beyond Bitcoin,
Ether
—the second-largest crypto—dropped 2% to below $1,900. Smaller cryptos, or altcoins, were also in the red, with
Cardano
and
Polygon
each losing 2%. Memecoins were similarly lower, with both
Dogecoin
and
Shiba Inu
shedding 2%.
Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@barrons.com
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