Bitcoin (BTC) price slides to 2-month low after Fed meeting minutes

Bitcoin Gold prices fell to about $57,000 a share on Thursday, their lowest in two months, after the Federal Reserve released minutes from its June meeting that showed the central bank is not yet ready to cut interest rates.

According to data from cryptocurrency rankings site CoinGecko, at around 2:30 p.m. London time, Bitcoin had fallen about 5% over the 24 hours to $56,837, dropping below $57,000 for the first time since May 1. Bitcoin has since pared back some of its losses, trading at $57,932.57 as of 5:05 p.m. London time, down 3.4%.

Rival token Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, fell 5% to $3,120.

The Federal Reserve released minutes from its June meeting on Wednesday in which it expressed a reluctance to cut interest rates until there is more data showing that inflation is sustainably moving toward the central bank’s 2% target.

Rising interest rates are typically bad for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as they reduce investors’ risk tolerance.

Bitcoin soared to an all-time high of more than $73,700 in March this year after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved the first U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

ETFs allow investors to buy products that track the price of bitcoin without owning the underlying cryptocurrency, which crypto advocates say gives the asset class more legitimacy and makes it easier for larger institutional investors to get involved.

But since then, Bitcoin has been trading in a range of roughly $59,000 to $72,000.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency has recently come under pressure from news that collapsed Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox is preparing to distribute around $9 billion worth of coins to users, which is expected to lead to significant selling action.

Small amounts of bitcoin were moved from three wallets previously associated with Mt. Gox on Thursday, according to Arkham Intelligence. The largest transfer amounted to $24 worth of the cryptocurrency. It was not immediately clear whether the transaction was made in connection with Mt. Gox’s repayment plan.

Meanwhile, the German government on Thursday sold roughly 3,000 bitcoin (worth roughly $175 million at today’s prices) out of the 50,000 bitcoin it seized in connection with movie piracy operation Movie2k, according to blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence.

Arcam, which tracks the German government’s bitcoin wallets, said the assets were moved to crypto exchanges Kraken, Bitstamp and Coinbase, as well as another unidentified wallet. “These funds are likely being moved to deposits with institutional services or over-the-counter,” Arcam said. Said In post X.

But analysts at cryptocurrency data and research firm CCData said in a research report on Tuesday that Bitcoin is still It has reached the apex of its current price cycle and is likely to hit a new all-time high.

The report states that past market “cycles” have shown that Bitcoin’s so-called “halving” event (which reduces the supply of new Bitcoin into the market) has always been followed by a period of price growth lasting 12 to 18 months “before reaching the top of the cycle.”

The last Bitcoin halving occurred on April 19th of this year, so these historic time frames have not yet passed.

“Furthermore, trading activity on centralized exchanges declined nearly two months after the halving in previous cycles, which appears to mirror this cycle. This suggests that the current cycle may extend further into 2025,” CCData said.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin bull Tom Lee said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday that he still sees Bitcoin reaching $150,000 despite the “burden” posed by Mt. Gox’s planned distribution of tokens to creditors.

“If you’re invested in cryptocurrencies and you know that one of your biggest concerns is going to be resolved in July, I think that gives you reason to expect a pretty sharp recovery in the second half of the year,” Lee, co-founder and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, said in a television interview.