3 Catalysts Affecting Bitcoin (BTC) and Altcoin Prices This Week

The main catalyst for Bitcoin and other altcoins last week was the progress in U.S.-China trade talks, which also pushed up the stock market.

Indeed, the first day of the trade talks in Switzerland ended without a big announcement, but President Donald Trump later praised the discussions and said “great progress” was being made.

However, no further information was provided, and Beijing struck a more cautious tone, with its state news agency warning that China would "firmly oppose" any proposals that threaten its core principles or global fairness.

Despite the high stakes for the global economy, the two sides appear to be divided on the current state of the trade negotiations.

"There is a view that the two sides are struggling to come together and that the administration is becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of urgency from China to strike a deal," said economists at Goldman Sachs, who highlighted that the two sides are still discussing the "grand bargain" to resolve the trade war and the economic friction.

"A trade deal or de-escalation would help to mitigate recession risks and also mean that inflation growth might be contained, creating an opening for the Fed to cut interest rates sooner than expected," the economists explained.

The next important catalyst for Bitcoin and other altcoins will be on Wednesday when the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the April Consumer Price Index (CPI) report.

Economists polled by TipRanks expect the report to show consumer prices rose in April as companies made tariff-related adjustments to their products and services. The average estimate is that the headline CPI rose from 2.4% in March to 2.5% in April, while the core CPI remained at 2.8%.

"We expect U.S. inflation to continue to rise and to reach 3.8% at year-end 2023," said Goldman Sachs analysts, who add that they have revised up their forecasts for both headline and core CPI this year.

Bitcoin and altcoins often react to U.S. inflation data because of its impact on the Federal Reserve. In its meeting last week, the Fed decided to keep interest rates unchanged at 4.5% and maintain a wait-and-see approach.

"The members of the Federal Open Market Committee will want to see more signs that inflation is moving back to the Fed's 2% target and that the labor market remains strong before cutting interest rates," explained economists at Capital Economics.

A lower inflation figure and signs of progress on trade would fuel the ongoing crypto bull run. But if inflation remains sticky and the trade talks stall, then Bitcoin and altcoins could face selling pressure this week.

The other top catalyst for the crypto market will be the Consensus event in Toronto, which will gather the most influential names in the industry. Some top speakers are Cardano's Charles Hoskinson, Robert Hines, Eric Trump, Chainlink's Sergey Nazarov, and Anthony Scaramucci.

Historically, such events have been good places for companies to announce partnerships and deals that move tokens. For example, Pi Network (PI) price surged today after the Core Team hinted at a major announcement during the event.

The post Top 3 Catalysts For Bitcoin And Altcoins Price This Week appeared first on CC Coins News.

The post Top 3 Catalysts For Bitcoin And Altcoins Price This Week appeared first on CC Coins News.