cpeditor
- Major cryptocurrencies ended Sunday in positive territory, although bitcoin, ether, XRP and Solana continued to post weekly losses.
- Bitcoin traded near $64,000 during Monday’s Asian session, gaining about 0.5% on the day while remaining almost 3% lower over the past seven days. Despite a softer dollar and reduced expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike, crypto markets have struggled to break out of their recent range.
- Hyperliquid’s HYPE was the strongest major token, rising more than 3% to around $59 and extending its weekly gain to nearly 9%. Ether also advanced more than 1% to just below $1,900, though it remained down about 1% for the week.
- Dogecoin rose almost 1% to roughly $0.07, while Tron gained less than 0.5% to slightly above $0.33. XRP edged higher to around $1 but remained about 3% lower on the week. Solana climbed slightly above $75 and was down nearly 2% over seven days. BNB slipped marginally to above $604 and was little changed over the week.
- The broader economic backdrop has improved, but the shift has not yet translated into a major crypto rally. Bloomberg’s dollar index declined 0.1%, extending its slide toward a third straight session and approaching levels last seen in May. MSCI’s emerging-market currency index also reached a record intraday level, driven by gains in the Taiwanese dollar and Thai baht.
- The softer market tone followed Friday’s U.S. retail sales report, which showed the largest monthly decline in more than a year as consumer spending weakened. Expectations for a Fed rate hike next month have fallen to around 25%, compared with roughly 50% a week earlier, while Treasury prices rose across maturities.
- Nick Ruck, director of LVRG Research, said bitcoin remains range-bound around $63,000, with weakening ETF inflows pointing to limited investor confidence following the previous week’s sell-off.
- According to Ruck, the release of the FOMC minutes and possible updates from the anticipated White House crypto meeting are the main events to monitor this week. Both could offer fresh insight into U.S. monetary policy and the regulatory direction for cryptocurrencies.
- The Fed will release minutes from its July 28-29 meeting on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET. The minutes could show how close policymakers came to raising rates before subsequent economic data reduced the likelihood of a hike.
