After a spate of gains over the past few days, Bitcoin edged up slightly on Tuesday. With a major catalyst looming this week, the largest cryptocurrency has an opportunity to continue its winning streak if it can clear key technical levels.
Bitcoin price is up less than 1% to above $30,375 in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin remains off the psychologically significant $30,000 level, which it broke last week for the first time since April, and neared $32,000 at the peak of recent trade. The technical outlook for Bitcoin looks positive in the short-term, having sustained strong gains so far, in contrast to April’s surge that was quickly reversed.
“Bitcoin experienced a major breakthrough,” said Katie Stockton, managing partner at technical research firm Fairlead Strategies. “Upward moves are supporting an eventual break above long-term resistance near $31,900… Secondary resistance is near $35,900… initial support now stands at the 50-day moving average around $27,200.”
In fact, Bitcoin is on the upswing. With $32,000 in sight, a break of this level would open the way to gains above $35,000 and near $36,000 – levels not seen since May 2022.
There is at least one catalyst this week that could get Bitcoin there: the release of the Personal Consumption Spending Index, which will also be the focus of the stock market and likely move the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500.
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While Bitcoin’s correlation with stocks has weakened recently – due to negative regulatory pressures and positive industry investments related to cryptocurrencies – the release of PCE data is a key macroeconomic catalyst that could move all risk-sensitive assets.
PCE is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation. Investors will be watching Friday’s release closely after the central bank kept interest rates steady this month. At the same time, however, she warned that further interest rate hikes to fight inflation could come after the first pause in more than a year of tight financial conditions. Hot inflationary pressures could point to further rate hikes, while signs of continued price deceleration could fuel optimism that the Fed need not be as aggressive.
Alongside bitcoin, ether — the second largest cryptocurrency — fell less than 1% to $1,875. Smaller cryptos or altcoins were mixed, with Cardano down 3% but Polygon just above the same level. Memecoins were down, Dogecoin lost 1% and Shiba Inu lost 2%.
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Write to Jack Denton at [email protected]