(Kitco News) – The cryptocurrency market saw a slight recovery from the recent lows in trading on Thursday, but prices remain well below the highs recorded in March as pre-halving volatility and weakness continue to dominate the market.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is less than 30 hours away from its next halving, and crypto proponents are eager to get past the quadrennial reduction in new BTC emissions and back on track with the ongoing bull market, which has paused since Bitcoin first surpassed $64,000 in early March.
Data provided by TradingView shows that Bitcoin bounced off the low of $59,650 recorded on Wednesday to hit an intraday high of $64,200 on Thursday, and has since pulled back to support at $63,300.
BTC/USD Chart by TradingView
And it's not just Bitcoin and cryptos that are dealing with increased volatility. Stocks opened lower, climbed into positive territory during the middle portion of the trading day, and then sank back into the red near the close. Concerns about inflation and interest rates remain the source of volatility as Thursday saw Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic reiterate that he doesn’t expect to lower rates until the end of the year.
At the closing bell, the S&P and Nasdaq finished down 0.22% and 0.52%, respectively, while the Dow was flat. While stocks retreated, the DXY climbed 0.4% to 106.152, while the U.S. 10-Year Treasury note gained 7.6 basis points and sits at 4.638%.
“The S&P 500 experienced volatility as Wall Street sought to regain stability following consecutive losses,” said analysts at Secure Digital Markets. “The Nasdaq, particularly affected by a downturn in technology stocks, declined by more than 3%, signaling a potential fourth consecutive week of losses, which would be the longest downturn since December 2022.”
“Overall, the stock market's recent declines can be attributed to diminished expectations for rate cuts, prompting investors to take profits following a robust performance in the first quarter of the year,” they noted.
Sideways price action post-halving
“Bitcoin exhibited a strong recovery after momentarily dipping below the critical support level of $60,000,” the analysts said. “However, remaining below the 50-day moving average suggests that the resistance level around $67,000 remains unbroken.”
“Current market conditions show a spot premium over futures, reminiscent of previous trends when Bitcoin was trading around $40,000,” they added. “This indicates a decrease in speculative trading, which is a favorable sign.”
The analysts noted that the weakness seen in Bitcoin over the past several weeks has correlated with declining outflows into the spot BTC ETFs, with the net flow being negative every day since Friday.
Wednesday saw the outflows hit a recent peak of $165 million, “predominantly led by Grayscale, which accounted for $133.1 million of this amount,” the analysts said. “Meanwhile, Blackrock recorded its lowest inflow at $18.1 million, as it continues to try to assert its market presence.”
While sideways price action is expected to continue in the near term as the halving transpires and ETF flows stabilize, most analysts expect that Bitcoin’s price will eventually resume its uptrend. Based on previous halving cycles, BTC is likely to reach its next peak near mid-September or mid-October 2025, according to market analyst Rekt Capital.
#BTC
If history repeats...
Next Bull Market peak may occur 518-546 days after the Halving
That's mid-September or mid-October 2025$BTC #Bitcoin #BitcoinHalving pic.twitter.com/X0vqIlgU6P— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) April 18, 2024
Altcoins trade mixed
The top 200 altcoins traded mixed on Thursday with a slight majority recording gains.
Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360
Livepeer (LPT) saw the biggest price increase, gaining 12.7% to trade at $13.27, while Jito (JTO) climbed 10.9%, and Centrifuge (CFG) gained 8.5%. Meme coin cat in a dogs world (MEW) declined 11.7% to lead the losers, followed by a 9% decline for Core (CORE), and a 7.3% pullback for Sui (SUI).
The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.3 trillion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 54.2%.
