Bitcoin climbed back above $38,000 on Tuesday amid optimism the US central bank may be closer to lowering borrowing costs if inflation continues to decline.
Standard Chartered is ramping up its bullish Bitcoin prediction, targeting as much as $120,000 by the end of 2024 — almost quadruple the current price — as increasingly cash-rich miners reduce sales of the token.
Cryptocurrencies mirrored global markets and declined after Jerome Powell warned against prematurely loosening policy, with Bitcoin settling into the lower end of the narrow range that it has traded in the past two weeks.
Bitcoin lingered near $23,000 after a report showing the US added more jobs than forecast last month renewed concern that higher interest rates could reduce demand for riskier assets.
A rise in the price of Bitcoin has prompted some miners of the cryptocurrency to switch on more rigs over the last two weeks even with much of the US still caught in a heat wave that boosted demand for electricity.
Bitcoin dropped to its lowest level in more than a month and other digital assets tumbled as investors’ tendency toward risk aversion, combined with the lack of a clear catalyst for buying, drove the market lower.