Cryptocurrency investors are awaiting the U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate-hike decision on July 26, which is likely to be a 25 basis point (bps) increase. Bitcoin (BTC) has been stuck around the $30,000 level since it zoomed above that mark about a month ago, and was recently trading at $29,140. Inflation and rate concerns could be what [have been] keeping crypto prices depressed, Noelle Acheson wrote in her Crypto is Macro newsletter Tuesday.
Dogecoin (DOGE) surged 7% amid optimism about what Elon Musk’s latest moves at Twitter mean for the meme coin. The price spiked Tuesday after CoinDesk published a story suggesting that Musk’s brazen overhaul of Twitter – now called X – could broaden use of the popular memecoin and other cryptos. “Elon clearly has an affinity for DOGE, almost as part of a running joke, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually went through with enabling payments via DOGE,” Brian D. Evans, CEO and founder of BDE Ventures, a Web3 venture studio and advisory firm, told journalists.
Ether (ETH), the second-largest crypto by market value, was recently changing hands at around $1,850, up 0.4% versus 24 hours earlier. Among other major altcoins, XRP was recently up 1.3%, while SOL, the native crypto of the Solana smart contracts platform, gained 0.9%. The CoinDesk Market Index, a measure of overall crypto market performance, was recently up 0.3%.
Tim Frost, CEO of digital wealth platform Yield App, wrote in an email to journalists that some investors may be taking profits as they bet on hawkish language from the U.S. Fed following reports of rising house prices in the world’s biggest economy, which will likely give the [Federal Open Market Committee] reason to continue hiking rates throughout the year.