Bitcoin’s price steadied on Thursday after pulling back from recent highs as anticipation of a tight presidential election and relatively higher U.S. interest rates kept traders averse towards crypto.
Crypto trading volumes were also mostly subdued amid increased risk aversion, while overnight losses in stock markets also provided middling cues to crypto markets. Most altcoins also tracked muted moves in Bitcoin, while Solana rallied past its peers on increased activity on the blockchain.
Bitcoin rose 0.3% to $67,437.9 by 01:17 ET (05:17 GMT). The token tread water for the past two sessions after failing to break past $70,000 earlier this week.
Rates, election jitters pressure Bitcoin
Bitcoin had initially rallied on increased speculation that Donald Trump will win a second term in 2024. Recent polls and prediction markets also showed Trump with a slight edge over Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
Trump has promised to roll out friendlier crypto regulations if elected, having maintained a largely pro-crypto stance in recent campaigning.
But Trump’s broader macroeconomic policies are expected to be largely inflationary- a trend that heralds relatively high interest rates and a stronger dollar. This notion pushed the dollar to a near three-month high in recent sessions, while largely pressuring risk-driven markets.
Expectations of a slower pace of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve also pressured speculative assets such as crypto, given that higher rates limit the amount of liquidity that can be deployed into risk assets.
Traders were seen widely positioning for a smaller, 25 basis point cut by the Fed in November, CME Fedwatch showed.
U.S. purchasing managers index data due later on Thursday is expected to provide more cues on the U.S. economy.
Solana rallies amid increased blockchain activity, memecoin speculation
Solana was an outperformer in crypto markets this week, rising 4.5% to a near three-month high of $173.068 on Thursday amid increased trading volumes.
Coindesk attributed the price gains largely to increased activity on the Solana blockchain, especially in meme tokens related to artificial intelligence.
User numbers were also seen increasing to record highs above 8 million, while speculative positions on Solana increased sharply this week.
Solana was trading up 8.4% this week, compared to a 1.5% drop in Bitcoin.
Crypto price today: Ethereum falls, altcoins muted
Broader altcoins moved in a flat-to-low range. World no.2 crypto Ethereum was an outlier, sinking 2.4% to $2,553.24.
MATIC, ADA and XRP moved in a flat-to-low range, while among meme tokens, DOGE rose 1.2%.
