Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a drop below $28,000 during U.S. trading hours on Tuesday but then steadied as investors monitored progress on a debt ceiling deal. The cryptocurrency had increased to $28,000 for the first time in almost three weeks following the agreement to suspend the debt ceiling until 2025, by U.S. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. As a result, the U.S. Treasury may issue around $1 trillion of debt to replenish its Treasury General Account.
Increased government debt often proves favorable for the cryptocurrency market. However, the vast number of crypto companies grapple with difficult financing options over the forthcoming year, according to Edward Moya, senior market analyst at foreign exchange Oanda. On another front, traders have revised expectations for a more dovish, monetary turn by the U.S. Federal Reserve, with the CME FedWatch Tool now indicating a 66% probability of a fourth consecutive interest rate hike.
Dessislava Ianeva, research analyst at crypto data firm Kaiko, mentioned that bitcoin has moved with liquidity thus far. While further rate hikes combined with quantitative tightening (QT) could dampen market rallies, factors such as store-of-value, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and supply/demand may show evidence of bitcoin’s resilience amid monetary tightening.
Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, saw a growth of approx. 0.6% to trade at around $1,905. Meanwhile, payments-focused XRP jumped more than 6% to around 52 cents, and storage protocol Filecoin’s FIL token rose by 4% to trade at $4.83.
Equities displayed mixed results after a holiday weekend: the S&P 500 remained stagnant, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) slid 0.1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq increased by 0.3%. In bond markets, both 2-year and 10-year Treasury yields dropped 11 basis points to sit around 4.44% and 3.69%, respectively. Cryptocurrency prices sometimes operate inversely to yields.
Both hardline conservatives and progressive Democrats may vote against the debt ceiling deal, however, despite skepticism, the market is likely to react positively in the short term if an agreement follows the vote, as per Vetle Lunde, a senior analyst at K33 Research. With various factors impacting the crypto market, it remains crucial to stay informed and monitor these developments closely while evaluating their implications for the future of blockchain technology and the market.
Source: Coindesk
