Cryptocurrency Prices on August 29: Bitcoin trades near $60,000 ahead of key US economic data

Major cryptocurrencies traded higher on Thursday ahead of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) report for the second quarter and Initial Jobless Claims, which are scheduled for release later in the day. Bitcoin gained nearly 1% in the past 24 hours but remains below the $60,000 mark. The global crypto market cap increased by 0.63% to $2.1 trillion.As of 12:09 pm IST, Bitcoin was trading at $59,724, up nearly 1%, while Ethereum rose by 3.6% to $2,557.

Investors are now focusing on the preliminary estimate of U.S. gross domestic product for the second quarter, due later in the day, and the U.S. Federal Reserve‘s preferred gauge of inflation—the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index—on Friday, for clues on the central bank’s rate easing plans.

“Investors are wary of upcoming US GDP and PCE data, which could further weigh on the market. A major withdrawal of $2.6 billion worth of bitcoins from Binance raised liquidity concerns and increased market volatility, said Sathvik Vishwanath, Co-Founder & CEO of Unocoin.

“Bitcoin faces immediate support at $58,000, with resistance at $60,000 and $61,850. If BTC fails to hold above $58,000, it may fall further, with bearish momentum lingering below $60,270,” Sathvik added.

Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUcoin, commented, “Bitcoin remains below the $60,000 mark ahead of today’s U.S. jobs data release. Analysts expect a stronger jobs report, but weaker Nvidia earnings are impacting the U.S. market, which may ripple through to the crypto market.”

Altcoins and meme-coins like BNB, Dogecoin, Toncoin, Cardano, Shiba Inu, Litecoin, and XRP also saw price rise up to 4% over the past day.

The volume of all stablecoins is currently $76.73 billion, making up 93.57% of the total crypto market’s 24-hour volume, according to CoinMarketCap.

Over the past 24 hours, the market cap of Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, rose to $1.176 trillion, with Bitcoin’s dominance standing at 56.02%, per CoinMarketCap. BTC’s 24-hour trading volume declined by 10.56% to $37.17 billion.

“Bitcoin is currently trading between two CME gaps—around $57,000 and $62,000—suggesting potential movement in either direction to fill these gaps. The current price action remains uncertain and may continue this way over the weekend,” said the CoinDCX Research Team.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)

(You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)