Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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Bitcoin is trading around the $44k region, down by less than 1% in the last 24 hours.
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Investors are concerned that the Federal Reserve might not aggressively cut rates this year as previously expected.
Federal Reserve Might Maintain Flexibility in its Policy Decisions
Bitcoin, the world’s leading cryptocurrency by market cap, is starting the week in the red zone. BTC is down by less than 1% in the last 24 hours and is currently trading at $43,958 per coin.
The bearish start to the week comes as traders consider the effects of last week’s NFP data. The NFP data published on Friday revealed that the U.S. economy created 216,000 jobs in December, surpassing the 170,000 estimated by market experts. It was also above the 173,000 recorded in November.
Meanwhile, the jobless rate remained at 3.7%, with the average hourly earnings rising to 4.1% year-on-year, above the consensus estimate of 3.9%.
However, some investors now have doubts that the US Federal Reserve might not cut interest rates by March. Previously, the CME Fed Watch tool shows that 75% of traders expected the Fed to cut rates by March but following the NFP data, only 60% of traders believe so.
Traders also predict that the Fed might carry out five 25 basis point rate cuts this year instead of six or seven similar-sized rate cuts predicted prior to the NFP data release.
With Bitcoin underperforming, altcoins are also in the red. SOL, ADA, and AVAX are all down by more than 7% in the last 24 hours, making them the worst performers amongst the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap.
With the broader crypto market currently in the red, the total cryptocurrency market cap has dropped to $1.64 trillion, down by 1% in the last 24 hours.
