The price of bitcoin rose slightly on Monday after recovering over the weekend, although it remained in a limited range amid continued caution about the prospects for US interest rates, Investing.com reports, UNN writes.
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The world's largest cryptocurrency was little changed in price over the past 24 hours and was listed at $67,085.1 as of 13:13 GMT (16:13 Kyiv time). The token remained within the $60,000 to $70,000 trading range established since mid-March, with few catalysts for an immediate breakout.
The appetite for bitcoin, as indicated, was also overshadowed by a stellar rally in the metals markets. "A combination of demand for safe-haven assets and long positions led to gold hitting a record high on Monday," the publication notes.
In addition, this week's focus was reportedly on additional signals from the US Federal Reserve that are likely to affect the interest rate outlook.
The dollar also stabilized after last week's losses, limiting any significant upside potential for bitcoin. Fears of potential geopolitical instability in the Middle East after Iran's president and foreign minister were killed in a helicopter crash also curbed risk appetite and drove traders to safe-haven assets such as gold and the dollar, the publication writes.
At the same time, most of the major altcoins reportedly fluctuated on Monday, tracking the weak movements of bitcoin, as sentiment remained subdued.
The world's second largest token, Ethereum, rose 0.4% to $3,090.91, while XRP fell 0.3%. Shares of Solana rose by 5.1%.
Memecoin quotes showed mixed dynamics: DOGE and SHIB shares rose by 1.2%, while SHIB remained unchanged.
In recent months, altcoins have struggled to gain popularity as most cryptocurrency capital flows have remained focused on bitcoin. Potential regulatory measures against Ethereum by the US Securities and Exchange Commission have also reportedly reduced the appetite for altcoins.
In addition, the number of new bitcoin wallets reportedly fell to its lowest level since 2018, indicating a decline in interest and activity in the bitcoin ecosystem.
According to The Block, an average of 275,000 addresses were added to the bitcoin network every day last week, compared to 625,000 six months ago.
Other closely monitored indicators have also declined, including miner revenue, as measured by hashing rates, which have hit record lows. Transaction fees and on-chain volume are also in the red.
Meanwhile, despite the current downturn in intra-network performance, new protocols in the bitcoin network are attracting record interest from venture capital companies, potentially creating the basis for a future revival, the publication points out.
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