Authored by Mary Liu for BitpushNews, the cryptocurrency market faced downward pressure at the start of the week.
According to Bitpush data, Bitcoin broke below the $66,000 support level in early trading on Monday, hitting a low of $65,046 at midday. A surge in buying pressure then pushed the price back up to $67,286. However, the bullish momentum was short-lived, and at the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin stood at $66,580.16 with a 24-hour volatility close to 0%.
Among the top 200 tokens by market cap on Monday, only 5 saw gains of over 1%. Convex Finance (CVX) led the way with a 25.3% increase, followed by cat in a dogs world (MEW) with a 19.7% gain, and XRP rising by 5.8%. On the downside, zkSync (ZK) saw the biggest drop at 24.3%, followed by io.net (IO) down 22.1%, and ConstitutionDAO (PEOPLE) down by 18.7%.
The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies currently stands at $2.41 trillion, with Bitcoin holding a market dominance of 54.6%.
In traditional markets, stocks related to artificial intelligence continued to gain traction. The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 indices both reached new record highs, rising by 0.9% and 1.2% respectively.
Some analysts have adjusted their year-end targets for the S&P 500. Evercore ISI raised its target to 6,000 points, while Goldman Sachs forecasted the index to reach 5,600 points.
The debate continues over whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September or by the end of the year. The FedWatch tool from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange currently indicates a 64% chance of a rate cut in September. However, Neel Kashkari, President of the Minneapolis Fed, suggested in a recent interview that a rate cut may only happen once this year, potentially in December.
The summer slump has begun for Bitcoin, with the cryptocurrency trading sideways in a narrow range since March. Analysts point to a lack of catalysts to drive action in the market, leading to a loss of momentum.
Charlie Morris, Chief Analyst at ByteTree, noted that Bitcoin’s weakness may persist for several months due to a decline in the value of the dollar. Despite strong inflows into ETFs this year, Bitcoin continues to face resistance above $70,000.
Market analyst TedTalksMacro emphasized the importance of Bitcoin holding the $66,000 support level in the coming week, as a breach could lead to dominant selling pressure and force long positions to liquidate quickly.