Investing.com– Bitcoin prices fell on Monday, extending last week's steep decline, as concerns over U.S. interest rates and anticipation of key inflation data left traders largely biased toward the dollar.
A stronger dollar also put pressure on broader cryptocurrency prices, with the greenback hovering near a two-month high following strong U.S. purchasing managers index data.
It fell 4.9% over the last 24 hours to $61,233.4 as of 08:37 ET (12:37 GMT).
Strong dollar puts pressure on Bitcoin, PCE inflation awaited
The world's largest cryptocurrency suffered heavy losses last week as traders remained skeptical about the timing of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
There is little sign of improvement in sentiment this week, especially ahead of key data due on Friday.
This reading is the Fed's preferred measure of inflation, and it is likely to factor into the central bank's outlook on interest rates in the coming months. Although Friday's data is expected to show some modest decline in inflation, the reading is still expected to be well above the Fed's 2% annual target — giving the central bank more room to keep rates high.
Higher rates are a bad sign for crypto, as they reduce the attractiveness of speculative, risk-driven assets like crypto.
Crypto price today: Altcoins sank more than Bitcoin
Major altcoins saw much steeper declines than Bitcoin, as a series of token unlocks, waning institutional demand, and a healthy dose of profit-taking put pressure on crypto prices.
Recent capital flow data has shown that institutional demand, especially for crypto investment products, has been mainly centered around bitcoin. But bitcoin also saw massive withdrawals in early June.
The world’s No. 2 token fell more than 5% to $3,320.76, a one-month low as it largely consolidated gains from promotions on a spot ether exchange-traded fund.
slipped 1.9%, while and slid 3.5% and 4.6%, respectively. Both tokens had seen some gains in recent sessions.
Meme tokens , and declined by 5.5% and 6.5%, respectively.
Mt. Gox set to launch bitcoin payments in July
Defunct bitcoin exchange Mt Gox said on Monday it would begin distributing assets stolen from customers during a 2014 hack from the first week of July, a move that follows years of missed deadlines.
Rehabilitation trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi said on the Mt. Gox website, “The Rehabilitation Trustee is preparing to make repayments in bitcoin and in kind under the rehabilitation plan. Repayments will be made from the beginning of July 2024,” he further added that it is necessary to take due diligence and security steps before payments can begin.
These repayments are expected to increase selling pressure on the bitcoin market. According to traders, early investors will now find the assets worth much more than their pre-2013 entries, causing many investors to sell at least part of their holdings.
Mt. Gox, once the world's leading crypto exchange, handled more than 70% of all bitcoin transactions in its early years. In early 2014, a hack resulted in the loss of about 740,000 bitcoins ($15 billion in today's money). It was the largest of several attacks on the exchange between 2010 and 2013.