Crypto markets saw some volatility last week. After seeing support at the $92,000 level on 31st December the bitcoin price had been gradually pushing higher, breaking back above the $100,000 level again last Monday. $102,760 precisely, but the price has since retreated to $92,941 as of today, writes Simon Peters, cryptoasset market analyst at multi-asset investment platform eToro.
Interestingly the 4% price spike, which took bitcoin above $100,000, followed the announcement that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is stepping down. Pro-bitcoin opposition leader Pierre Poilievre is expected to lead his party to victory at the next election.
Crypto stocks also pushed higher in line with the rising bitcoin price. Microstrategy (MSTR) saw a 12% gain last Monday for example.
However, higher-than-expected job openings (JOLTS) and ISM services data from the US on Tuesday and the non-farm payrolls data on Friday caused a pullback in the rally, with the bitcoin price falling as much as 11%, as the data raised concerns about stubborn inflation and questions over the Fed’s interest rate cut path for this year.
According to CME FedWatch, investors are no longer pricing in an interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve for the first half of 2025. Instead the first cut is forecasted to come at the Fed’s end of September meeting.
Rising bond yields, particularly on longer-term treasuries and a strengthening US dollar have also been weighing on risk assets.
President-elect Donald Trump speaking during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago last week ahead of his inauguration declared interest rates in the US are “far too high”. With him coming into office later this month, could he exert political pressure on the Fed to lower interest rates sooner, potentially benefiting risk assets going forward? We wait to see.
TRENDING CRYPTOS ON ETORO
$SUI has been gaining traction amongst eToro users as TVL (total value locked) in DeFi applications on the network crossed $2 billion this week.
The cryptoasset is also trading at all-time highs (above the $5 mark) and since the last major swing low in crypto markets back in early August 2024 has gained 900% against the US dollar and 465% versus bitcoin.
Discover more here: https://www.etoro.com/discover/markets/cryptocurrencies/trending
EYE-CATCHING STORIES
Ripple adopts Chainlink standard
Ripple announced last week that it has partnered with Chainlink to provide secure and reliable price data for its RLUSD stablecoin on the Ethereum network, enabling developers to integrate support for the stablecoin into their DeFi applications.
As well as Ethereum, the RLUSD stablecoin is also issued on the XRP ledger.
The announcement could be seen as a major coup for Chainlink and further its status as the premier decentralised oracle network in the crypto space.
Going forward, as more enterprises begin building applications on or transitioning to blockchain, the need to access real-world data will become even more important, which could benefit the LINK token price in the long term.
El Salvador buys another 11 bitcoin tranche for strategic reserve
The National Bitcoin Office of El Salvador announced last week another 11 bitcoin purchase to boost its strategic reserve holdings.
This new tranche of 11 bitcoin follows similar buys made on 19th and 22nd December, as well as the regular 1 bitcoin per day acquisitions.
El Salvador now holds 6022.18 bitcoin, $561,430,067 at current market prices.
‘King of the Roma’ announces $GYPSYCOIN cryptocurrency to support marginalized group
