May 17 2024:Â Bitcoin’s price recovered slightly on Friday, reversing the previous day’s pullback as spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw positive inflows for the fourth consecutive day.
Despite the uptick, Bitcoin continued to trade within a narrow $60,000 to $70,000 range established over the past two months, with few catalysts to drive a breakout due to subdued risk appetite. By 08:57 ET (12:57 GMT), Bitcoin climbed 0.7% to $66,476.7.
Bitcoin Price Set for Strong Week Amid Rate Cut Hopes
Following today’s increase, Bitcoin has recorded strong gains over the past week, recovering from a low of $60,000 last week. The cryptocurrency is up around 8% from last Friday’s lows, largely driven by dollar weakness amid signs of easing U.S. inflation.
Soft consumer price index (CPI) readings have led traders to anticipate a greater likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates in September, a scenario favorable for speculative assets like Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
However, this enthusiasm has recently diminished. Several Fed officials cautioned that the central bank requires more evidence that inflation is decreasing before committing to rate cuts. Their comments spurred a dollar recovery, stalling rallies across most risk-driven assets.
In addition to uncertainties over U.S. interest rates, concerns about potential regulatory actions against the cryptocurrency industry continue to constrain sentiment.
Crypto Price Today: Altcoins Track Bitcoin’s Gains
In broader cryptocurrency markets, major altcoins followed Bitcoin into positive territory. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, rose 3.3%, while Solana and XRP advanced 3.8% and 1.7%, respectively.
The recent sell-off in Ethereum has paused, with bears meeting resistance at an upward-sloping trendline from the October and January lows, according to TradingView data. Since Monday, bears have been unable to break this bullish trendline, suggesting a potential price bounce before any further declines. Ethereum has dropped over 15% to $3,000 from highs near $4,100 two months ago.
Supporting this potential bounce, the daily MACD histogram has turned positive, indicating renewed bullish momentum. The MACD is a commonly used indicator for assessing trend strength and changes. Intraday momentum is improving, with the 50-hour simple moving average (SMA) trending upwards, providing reassurance. Immediate resistance is at the 50-day SMA near $3,180, followed by a descending trendline from the recent correction at $3,225.
Meanwhile, meme tokens saw limited gains of less than 1% as rallies in meme stocks like GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC) largely reversed course in recent sessions.
