Investing.com– Bitcoin price steadied on Monday after a sharp fall over the weekend saw the cryptocurrency pull back from recent highs, with focus squarely on more key signals on U.S. interest rates.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency had pushed as high as $72,000 last week, coming within spitting distance of record highs hit in March. But it then saw a heavy dose of profit-taking and weakness from Friday after the dollar rebounded.
rose 0.3% over the past 24 hours to $69,534.4 by 02:04 ET (06:04 GMT).
Bitcoin price steadies with Fed meeting, CPI in focus
Bitcoin’s weekend decline came at the heels of a hotter-than-expected reading, which saw traders largely rethink recent bets that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting rates in September.
This notion boosted the , which in turn weighed on broader crypto prices.
The payrolls reading also put an upcoming Fed meeting in focus, with the central bank widely expected to at the conclusion of a two-day meeting on Wednesday.
But the Fed’s outlook on rates will be closely watched.
Before the Fed rate decision, inflation data is also due on Wednesday. The reading is expected to show inflation remaining well above the Fed’s 2% annual target, giving the central bank little confidence to begin trimming rates.
High-for-longer rates bode poorly for Bitcoin and broader cryptocurrencies, given that the sector usually benefits from increased liquidity and loose lending conditions.
Crypto price today: Altcoins nurse losses
Broader crypto markets were also nursing steep losses from over the weekend, as fears of high rates weighed on the sector. They were also hit by profit-taking after some gains through May.
World no.2 token steadied at $3,680.01 on Monday, after losing nearly 4% on Friday.
, and rose between 0.3% and 1.4%, while among meme coins, SHIB and DOGE fell 0.1% and 0.8%, respectively.