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Bitcoin Surges Past $61,000 Amid Caution Over Economic Data
Bitcoin has soared past $61,000, capturing investor attention while caution looms over fluctuating economic data. Explore the factors driving this surge and what it means for the future of cryptocurrency in an uncertain financial landscape.
Latest Prices
CoinDesk 20 Index: 1,961 (+3.2%)
Bitcoin (BTC): $61,384 (+4.4%)
Ether (ETH): $2,754 (+4.3%)
S&P 500: 5,434.43 (+1.7%)
Gold: $2,513 (+1.9%)
Nikkei 225: 36,442.43 (+0.58%)
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Bitcoin has surged past $61,000, marking a significant recovery from the steep declines observed at the beginning of August. In the past 24 hours, BTC has shown an impressive increase of over 4%, outpacing the overall cryptocurrency market, which has seen a modest rise of just over 2%, as indicated by the CoinDesk 20 Index. However, despite these gains, several trading funds are exercising caution, particularly this week, which is packed with economic data releases. They are wary of potential short-term volatility that could hinder this upward trend.
“Investors remain cautious ahead of the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) report this week,” stated QCP Capital, a crypto trading firm, in a recent Telegram update. “Market participants will be closely monitoring inflation figures to provide clarity on whether the Federal Reserve will opt for a 50 or 25 basis point rate cut in September. Currently, the probabilities appear evenly distributed.”
In another notable development, Goldman Sachs has amassed substantial positions in seven of the eleven U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs, with their total investments exceeding $400 million. Their largest holding is BlackRock’s IBIT, valued at $238.6 million, followed closely by Fidelity’s FBTC at $79.5 million and Invesco Galaxy’s BTCO at $56.1 million. This information was revealed in Goldman Sachs’ quarterly 13-F report. During the Consensus 2024 festival hosted by CoinDesk in Austin, Mathew McDermott, the bank’s global head of digital assets, remarked that the introduction of Bitcoin ETFs represents a significant psychological milestone for the cryptocurrency sector. “The bitcoin ETF has undeniably been an extraordinary success,” McDermott noted during his presentation. The digital asset desk at Goldman Sachs is primarily dedicated to the ongoing digitization of assets.
Meanwhile, Coinbase is reportedly working on a version of wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) intended for its layer-2 blockchain, Base. This speculation was ignited by ambiguous posts from Coinbase late Tuesday in the U.S. These posts included phrases like “cbBTC” and “Coming Soon.” Jesse Pollak, the head of Base, subsequently commented on the team’s ambitions to establish a “massive bitcoin economy” within the network. Wrapping a cryptocurrency token allows for its use across different protocols beyond its original design, thereby enhancing liquidity within the targeted ecosystem.
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