Bitcoin Breaks to Low End of Trading Range, but June Data Could Be Next Catalyst

Barring a big late move, May will still go down as a strong month for the world's largest crypto.

Bitcoin (BTC) price slipped to near the week's low on Friday morning in Asia, remaining largely within a trading range following the U.S. Memorial Day holiday. Barring a late move, May will still be seen as a strong month for the world's largest cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin was trading at $67,300 by 11:45 pm ET (03:45 GMT), down 1% in the past 24 hours and more than 2% from two hours earlier, when it briefly rose above $69,000. The broader CoinDesk 20 index was down 1.1% over the past day.

Still, May has been kind to bitcoin, which is now up 11% since starting the month at around the $60,000 level. That trails the CoinDesk 20's advance of roughly 20%, which was driven by a 31% gain in the price of ether (ETH) thanks to the surprising regulatory shift in the prospects for a spot ETF for that asset.

Bitcoin's muted price action this week – the price has essentially stayed in the $67,000-$69,000 range – came as other risk assets also struggled. Among them were U.S. stocks, with the Nasdaq down about 2% this week, while the S&P 500 was off by roughly 1.5%.

U.S. economic data continued to carry the whiff of stagflation, with the April Core PCE Price Index up 2.8% year-over-year, in line with expectations and the same pace as the previous month. The May Chicago PMI plunged to 35.4 versus expectations for 41 and 37.9 in April. Only during the depths of the 2008/2009 global financial crisis and the March/April 2020 COVID lockdowns has May's weak read been matched. The bond market rallied on the news, with the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield down 5.5 basis points to 4.50%.

June begins Saturday and next week should bring a bit more clarity to the U.S. economic picture thanks to Monday's national PMI report and Friday's national employment report. Confirmation of softening economic conditions, and with those improved prospects for lower interest rates, might prove to be the catalyst for bitcoin's attempt at breaching its all time high above $73,000 set in March. Strong economic data, however, could mean a retest of the May lows.