Bitcoin prices fell sharply on Monday, continuing a sell-off that began over the weekend as market sentiment towards cryptocurrencies remained weak. This drop extends a broader downtrend seen throughout the past month.
Despite a brief respite towards the end of last week—when cryptocurrencies mirrored a rebound in broader financial markets amid optimistic views on U.S. recession fears—the optimism dissipated over the weekend, leading to further declines in crypto prices.
As of 01:52 ET (05:52 GMT), Bitcoin had dropped 4.3% to $58,520.7. The decline was compounded by lower trading volumes due to a holiday in the Japanese market.
For the past week, Bitcoin traded within a range of $50,000 to $60,000 after previously sinking to as low as $49,000. Market sentiment remains fragile, with heightened focus on upcoming U.S. inflation data set for Wednesday. This data is expected to provide insights into the Federal Reserve’s potential interest rate adjustments.
While Asian stock markets saw some recovery, with shares advancing on Monday, cryptocurrencies lagged behind. The strong dollar, bolstered by trader anticipation of Wednesday’s inflation report, also added pressure. The report is anticipated to show a further cooling of inflation in July, which may prompt the Fed to consider rate cuts.
In the broader crypto market, other major coins also experienced declines. Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, fell 4.3% to $2,549.22. XRP, which had rallied strongly the previous week, decreased by 4.7% to $0.5625. Despite a partial victory for XRP issuer Ripple Labs in a legal case against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the case did not clarify regulatory issues concerning the status of crypto tokens as securities.
Additional altcoins also saw losses, with ADA and SOL dropping 5.8% and 8.3%, respectively. Meme tokens SHIB and DOGE each fell over 6%.
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