Bitcoin Breaks Out of Trading Range, Close to Record Highs

Investing.com-- Bitcoin price rose on Wednesday, buoyed by growing expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts as weak economic readings continued to trickle in

Bitcoin price rose on Wednesday, as growing expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts continued to be in focus, following a slew of weak economic readings.

This, in turn, helped the token break out of a recent trading range, with broader crypto prices also advancing on the day.

Bitcoin rose 2.7% in the past 24 hours to $70,917.7 by 01:43 ET (05:43 GMT), after trading in a range of $60,000 to $70,000 since mid-March.

The world’s biggest cryptocurrency is now trading about $3,000 away from a new record high.

A combination of profit-taking, concerns over high interest rates and cooling optimism over Bitcoin ETFs had kept the token within the trading range, after it hit record highs in early-March.

But interest in crypto now appeared to be picking up, especially with the prospect of lower interest rates this year.

Risk-heavy assets such as crypto usually benefit from lower interest rates, given that increased liquidity makes for more speculative trading.

Bitcoin breaks out of trading range, close to record highs

Broader altcoin prices also advanced on Wednesday, as weak U.S. economic data spruced up expectations of eventual interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

World no. 2 token Ether rose 0.7%, while SOL, XRP and ADA rose between 0.9% and 5%.

Among meme tokens, SHIB surged 8%, while DOGE added 3.1%.

Expectations of a rate cut in September rose after softer-than-expected job openings data on Tuesday.

The reading was preceded by weak purchasing managers index data, as well as a downward revision in U.S. gross domestic product for the first quarter.

But while the readings ramped up bets on a September rate cut, focus this week was still on upcoming nonfarm payrolls data for more definitive cues on the labor market and interest rates.