The former CEO of BitMEX suggested that Bitcoin will likely hover between $60,000 and $70,000 for the next few months. Cryptocurrencies, led by Bitcoin, saw a bounce on Friday, sparking optimism that the worst of the downturn might be behind us.
Bitcoin surged almost 5% to briefly top $62,000 following a less-than-expected U.S. April jobs report, which eased worries about rising interest rates. At the moment, Bitcoin is trading at around $63,200, marking a 6.4% increase. Ether also climbed back above $3,100, rising by 4% in the same timeframe, while major altcoins like Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and Near Protocol experienced gains of 5% to 10%.
The market rally coincided with the release of the U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls report for April, which showed an addition of 175,000 jobs, below the consensus of 245,000 and lower than the previous month’s 315,000. This led to an increase in market expectations of at least one rate cut by September, according to CME FedWatch data.
Bitcoin’s recent correction, starting from mid-March, was linked to concerns about Federal Reserve policymakers adopting a more aggressive stance due to persistent inflation in recent months. Some traders even doubted the possibility of any rate cuts this year. This sentiment bolstered the U.S. dollar index to its highest level since November, typically seen as a negative signal for risk assets like cryptocurrencies.
In addition to the disappointing jobs data, analysts from Coinbase noted the recent FOMC meeting where policymakers hinted at no interest in rate cuts but signaled a reduction in the pace of the central bank’s balance sheet runoff, known as quantitative tightening (QT), which was interpreted as a dovish move.
Coinbase analysts David Han and David Duong believe that the FOMC’s unexpectedly dovish statement suggests that the U.S. dollar’s upward momentum against both foreign currencies and cryptocurrencies may have peaked. Arthur Hayes, former CEO of BitMEX, suggested in his latest essay that Bitcoin likely hit a bottom at this week’s lows of $56,000. However, he cautioned investors to anticipate a slow climb instead of a rapid recovery to the highs seen in March, as markets are expected to cool down over the next few months. Hayes expects Bitcoin to gradually rise above $60,000 and then trade within a range of $60,000 to $70,000 until August.
