Bitcoin saw a slight decline, but US data encourages the possibility of an interest rate cut | Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading slightly lower on Wednesday, with $87,000 difficult to reach again. On the macroeconomic radar, Tuesday released weaker data on the US economy, particularly the ADP employment report and retail sales.

At 9:33 AM (Brasilia time), Bitcoin was down 1.1% in 24 hours, at $86,469, according to data from CoinGecko.

Among altcoins, ether, a digital currency on the Ethereum network, fell 0.6% to $2,898. Meanwhile, XRP, Ripple’s international payments token, fell 2.5% to $2.15; Solana (SOL) stock fell 0.2% to $135.98. BNB (Binance Smart Chain Token) recorded a 0.2% gain at $854.30.

The combined market cap of all cryptocurrencies in the world currently stands at $3.08 trillion.

According to Andre Franco, CEO of Boost Research, the short-term outlook for Bitcoin is slightly positive. “The combination of the expectation of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, which reduces the opportunity cost of fixed income, and a more favorable overall risk climate tends to favor alternative assets such as cryptocurrencies.”

On the other hand, cryptocurrency analyst Beto Fernandes says a bad sign is that Bitcoin miners sent large amounts of BTC to exchanges last week, the fourth largest volume of the year. “In other words, a group with a large amount of assets dumps part of its reserves into the market,” he says.

In Fernandez’s view, what could save the longs is actually the macroeconomic environment, especially amid consumer pressures in the US and with a potential change in the Fed chairmanship next year. “It is not surprising that the majority of the market is once again betting heavily on a US interest rate cut at next month’s meeting, temporarily pulling the dollar index lower,” he says.

In exchange-traded funds (ETFs) operating on US exchanges, a positive net balance of US$128.7 million was recorded on Tuesday.

The main driver of the influx of buyers was Fidelity’s FBTC, where stake purchases exceeded $170.8 million in terms of sales; and IBIT, from BlackRock, for $83 million.

In Ethereum ETFs, the flow was positive at $78.6 million. The largest targets for the influx were FETH, from Fidelity, at $47.5 million; and ETHA, from BlackRock, for $46.1 million.

Finally, in Solana ETFs, the balance was positive at $53.1 million.