Bitcoin Rises But Rebound Remains Elusive — Update
By Joseph WilkinsBitcoin rose but stayed below $75,000 on Monday amid little evidence to suggest a rebound in the cryptocurrency's fortunes following a week of heavy losses.The bellwether cryptocurrency was 1% higher at $74,807, after falling below the $75,000 threshold on Friday for the first time since August. The digital assets sector has endured a challenging 10 days following the $6.3 billion hack into crypto exchange Binance, as well as the Democratic election sweep that some investors fear could translate into greater scrutiny of the crypto industry.U.S. tech stocks also sold off heavily last week, and bitcoin followed suit, falling around 5% on Thursday. Bitcoin reacted negatively to stronger-than-expected U.S. nonfarm payrolls data on Friday, which boosted expectations for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates further. Higher interest rates tend to weigh on non-yielding assets such as cryptocurrencies.Key drags on the price--particularly exchange-traded funds outflows and expectations of higher U.S. interest rates--have yet to improve enough to clear the way for an uptrend in buyers, according to Linh Tran, market analyst at broker XS.com. JPMorgan estimated outflows in spot bitcoin ETFs of $431 million on Thursday.The Democrat 'blue wave' in the midterm elections is chiefly responsible for bitcoin's recent decline, according to spread-betting firm IG Group. "The Republicans positioned themselves squarely behind cryptocurrencies, but now the reckoning is due," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp. "The new Democrat-controlled Congress is poised to investigate the Trump administration from top to bottom, and cryptocurrencies will not be immune."Ether was down 0.2% at $2,120.Write to Joseph Wilkins at [email protected]