Bitcoin (BTC) price trades slightly lower on Tuesday, down 0.6% to $93931

Bitcoin (BTC) price traded slightly lower on Tuesday, extending a slow decline. However, the leading cryptocurrency is still up significantly over the past month, driven by institutional inflows and persistent demand for safe-haven assets amid macro uncertainty.

What Happened: Bitcoin fell 0.6% in the past 24 hours and traded at press time at $93,931.9. It has declined slowly, losing 1% over the past week.

However, BTC is still up 14.14% over the past month as institutional inflows continue to support the cryptocurrency.

Also, in a time of political dysfunction and macro uncertainty, there is persistent demand for safe-haven assets such as Bitcoin.

According to data from crypto derivatives platforms, traders are showing more caution and seeking some downside protection.

As markets await Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's post-FOMC comments on Wednesday, traders are pricing in a 99.9% probability that the Fed will keep interest rates in the range of 4.25%-4.50%.

According to options market data from Deribit, traders are seeking more protection against downside moves in BTC.

Luuk Strijers, CEO of Deribit, told CoinDesk that they have only seen some nuanced demand for protective BTC puts, which reflects limited caution among sophisticated traders.

Strijers added that implied volatility is still quite subdued. He noted that spot BTC has retraced to around $94K today, and Deribit's DVOL, their implied volatility index, sits at 45—levels last observed in June 2024.

However, on decentralized platforms like Derive.XYZ, traders appear to be more risk-averse.

Dr. Sean Dawson, head of Research at Derive.XYZ, said that there is evidence of traders buying put options at $82K, $78K, and $76K, indicating interest in downside protection, likely surrounding concerns over the upcoming Fed meeting.

The Fed is expected to keep rates steady, but markets will be focused on any forward guidance for future rate cuts.

A hotter-than-expected jobs report last week has dampened hopes of a June rate cut, with odds falling to 30%.

If Powell pushes back against easing or hints at prolonged hawkishness due to inflation or trade risks, risk assets like BTC could come under pressure.

If, on the other hand, he signals a dovish bias and signals that the U.S. economic recovery is stalling, equities could rebound, while Bitcoin may continue to be range-bound.

According to CoinDesk, Senate Democrats are expressing renewed hesitation over stablecoin legislation due to President Trump’s growing personal involvement in crypto-linked ventures, including World Librety Financial WLFI/USD and other meme tokens.

The optics of a regulatory process potentially benefiting the president have made bipartisan consensus nearly impossible.

Bitcoin ETFs saw three straight days of net inflows, suggesting that long-term institutional appetite remains intact.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's recent comment that American interest rates now reflect sovereign credit risk adds fuel to the argument that crypto is becoming a hedge against political dysfunction as much as monetary uncertainty.

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Image: BTC Chart by TradingView