Investing.com — Bitcoin held near $64,000 on Sunday as traders positioned for Wednesday’s Federal Reserve interest-rate decision, with a large block of options bets targeting a move toward $72,000 by the end of July.
Bitcoin rose about 0.99% over the previous 24 hours and was trading at $64,486.1 as of 04:55 ET (08:55 GMT). The subdued weekend range followed a retreat from Tuesday’s one-month high above $66,400.
Options traders have purchased around $2.5 billion in notional Bitcoin call spreads expiring on July 31, according to CoinDesk. The positions would benefit from Bitcoin rising toward $72,000 after the Fed announcement.
Markets broadly expect policymakers to leave the federal funds rate unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75%. Traders will focus on Chair Kevin Warsh’s comments about inflation, oil prices and the possibility of future rate increases.
Bitcoin’s failure to extend its recent rally points to continued caution. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index stood at 27 on Sunday, signalling fear among market participants, after Bitcoin traded between $63,700 and $65,406 over the preceding 24 hours.
Activity elsewhere was stronger. Shiba Inu surged 36% to $0.0000057, adding close to $1 billion in market value without a clear project announcement. South Korean buying led the rally, with Upbit’s SHIB/KRW pair becoming its largest trading market.
In Washington, crypto advocates have contacted Congress nearly 1 million times as they push for Senate passage of the CLARITY Act before the August recess. The bill would divide digital-asset oversight between the SEC and CFTC, but objections from seven Democratic senators have left its timing uncertain.
Robinhood Chain’s tokenised real-world assets have risen roughly fivefold to $70 million. Its tokenised equities generate about $55 million in daily volume, still less than one-tenth of the network’s decentralised-exchange activity.
The European Union also added HTX to its Russia sanctions framework, barring EU businesses and residents from transacting with the crypto exchange from August 23.
Crypto price today: altcoins surge amid strong weekly start
Broader crypto prices surged on Sunday despite the muted weekend trading.
World no.2 crypto Ether gained 1.53% to $1,882.15, while XRP added 1.20% to $1.0996.
BNB was up 1.28%, while Solana and Cardano surged by 1.73% and 2.23% each.
Among memecoins, Dogecoin rose 5.81%, and $TRUMP increased 2.93%.
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