Bitcoin Enters Defensive Mode
By Laxmikant Khanvilkar
Leading virtual digital assets (VDA) retreated lower as strong data points reignited rate hike worries.
The U.S. Federal Reserve official was quick to sound the alarm bell.
“I don’t really see a compelling reason to pause, meaning wait until you get more evidence to decide what to do,” said Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester in an interview with the Financial Times.
Mester is an Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) “alternate member,” meaning that she votes on interest rates in the absence of one of the 12 voting members.
Mester comments knocked off about $500 of Bitcoin (BTC) in overnight session. It has since recovered but continues trade at a loss of 2.33% to $27,080. Ethereum (ETH) the second largest cryptocurrency was down 1.68% to trade at $1,872.
The global crypto market cap is down 1.03% to $1.15 tn over the last 24-hours. The total crypto market volume increased 10.26% to $33.48 bn. The total volume in DeFi is currently $2.63 bn, 7.86% of the total crypto market volume while that of all stablecoins is $30.86 bn, which is 92.17%. Bitcoin’s dominance is currently 46.24%, a decrease of 0.18% over the day.
IC15 index, the barometer of top fifteen tokens, eased 1.3% to 37,697.
Meanwhile, Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLTS) report showed openings increasing to 10.1 million in April, more than an anticipated 9.375 million.
This number should result in adding short-term volatility to crypto prices. Which is, alternatively, desirable for institutional investors, analysts have said.
A key to watch in upcoming days is to what extent BTC prices settle near $27,000, which coincides with its 20-day moving average. A decline below this threshold could see bitcoin approach the lower range of its Bollinger Band at $26,300.
Among upcoming data points of interest will be Friday’s nonfarm payrolls data. Current forecasts call for the economy to add 180,000 jobs in May. A reading above 180,000 would likely have a bearish impact on prices, market observers said.
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