(Kitco News) – Bitcoin (BTC) climbed back above $70,000 in trading on Tuesday while the performance of the broader cryptocurrency market was a mixed bag, with some tokens recording double-digit gains while the majority traded flat.
“Market conditions persist in a narrow range, exhibiting a lack of decisive moves from traders,” said analysts at Secure Digitial Markets. “It appears that we may be entering the customary summer slowdown, although the prevailing low trading volumes and stagnant markets are more likely attributable to the absence of clear catalysts prompting a breakout.”
Stocks oscillated between positive and negative territory throughout the trading day, further highlighting the start of the summer doldrums as investors prefer to spend time outdoors enjoying the sun rather than in front of trading screens.
“Dampened market sentiment was attributed to lackluster manufacturing data, prompting investor scrutiny over the sustainability of growth amidst the Federal Reserve's stance on inflation,” Secure Digital Markets said. “Economic data remains in focus, [and] the highlight of the week awaits on Friday with the May payrolls report.”
At the closing bell, the S&P, Dow, and Nasdaq all finished higher, up 0.15%, 0.36%, and 0.17%, respectively.
“Both BTC and ETH saw marginal fluctuations over the previous week, with market attention directed towards forthcoming macroeconomic events, notably the CPI and FOMC minutes next Wednesday, as well as PPI data the following Thursday, alongside the imminent launch of spot ETH ETFs within the upcoming weeks,” the analysts said. “Throughout the remainder of the year, macroeconomic developments will continue to heavily influence trader sentiment.”
“Despite adverse economic indicators, market sentiment remains buoyant, buoyed by steadfast conviction among long-term investors and the anticipation of additional spot ETF approvals,” they added. “On-chain analytics indicate that over half of the Bitcoin supply remains inactive, underscoring robust long-term confidence in the asset.”
Data provided by TradingView shows that after trading near support at $69,000 in the morning, Bitcoin bulls made their presence known near midday as the top crypto spiked more than 3% to hit a daily high of $71,135.
BTC/USD Chart by TradingView
At the time of writing, BTC trades at $70,360, an increase of 1.5% on the 24-hour chart.
Potential for a positive June
While some are calling for a slow summer, Tom Lee, Managing Partner and the Head of Research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, thinks it will be a positive month for both cryptos and stocks.
“Inflation is coming in softer than expected and I think the job market is cooling, but not weakening dramatically,” Lee said in an interview with CNBC. “And I think that’s a good situation for equities. The sell-off in April actually hasn’t really been fully recovered. That’s why we expected a rebound in May, but I think that carries over into June.”
Lee said he’s targeting the $5,500 level for the S&P by the end of the month – a 4.1% increase from current prices.
“There’s still $6 trillion of cash on the sidelines and margin debt is still way below where it was in October of 2021, so we know investors really aren’t that long yet,” he said. “So I think that comes together this month, with a pretty surprisingly robust move higher.”
When asked if he still sees the possibility of Bitcoin hitting $150,000 before the end of 2024, Lee suggested adoption by institutional investors was just getting started, and there is tremendous growth ahead for BTC.
“Yes. We’re still constructive on Bitcoin,” he said. “There’s the tailwinds that are associated with having that just take place. We also know, because of the Bitcoin ETF (exchange-traded fund), and there have been tremendous inflows, but institutional adoption and infrastructure being built around Bitcoin is only beginning. And that makes crypto and especially Bitcoin a bona fide asset class.”
“And I think that sort of widening ownership is going to be propelling Bitcoin to $150,000,” Lee added. “And again, surprise – maybe surprising or not surprising, Bitcoin still follows math. More than 87% of the movement in Bitcoin still follows just the number of wallets and the activity per wallet and both are moving higher.”
According to market analyst Jelle, after nearly 100 days of sideways trading, Bitcoin looks poised to break out higher, with a price target of $85,000.
After nearly 100 days of consolidation, it looks like #Bitcoin is ready to embark on the next leg higher.
I got my eyes on $85,000.
Send it. pic.twitter.com/2mUBiD1Q9u— Jelle (@CryptoJelleNL) June 4, 2024
Market analyst Rekt Capital said all that stands in the way of a new all-time high is the resistance zone between $72,000 and $73,500.
#BTC
Bitcoin just needs to break this final major resistance area (red) to enter the Parabolic Phase of the cycle$BTC #Crypto #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/EpRZeo6hL0— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) June 4, 2024
Altcoins start to show strength
A slight majority of tokens in the top 200 traded in the green on Tuesday as the calls for an altcoin breakout grow louder by the day.
Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360
Uniswap (UNI) was the top performer, gaining 20% to trade at $11.51, while ORDI (ORDI) climbed 16.7%, and Nervos Network (CKB) increased by 14.2%. Meme token cat in a dogs world was the biggest loser, falling by 6.7%, followed by a loss of 6.6% for Skale (SKL), and a decline of 5.4% for Pixels (PIXEL).
The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.61 trillion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 53.2%.
