Share this article
Bitcoin Breaks to Low End of Trading Range, but June Data Could Be Next Catalyst
Barring a big late move, May will still go down as a strong month for the world's largest crypto.
Updated May 31, 2024, 3:50 p.m. Published May 31, 2024, 3:47 p.m.
The price of bitcoin has traded in an exceptionally tight trading range surrounding $68,000 in the days following the U.S. Memorial Day holiday, but declined to near the week's low in Friday morning trading hours.
At 11:45 am ET, bitcoin was changing hands at $67,300, lower by 1% over the past 24 hours and down by more than 2% from two hours earlier when it briefly rose above $69,000. The broader CoinDesk 20 was down 1.1% over the last day.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
May, though, has been strong for bitcoin, which is now higher by 11% since beginning the month at around the $60,000 level. That's underperformed the CoinDesk 20's roughly 20% advance, fueled by a 31% gain in the price of ether thanks to the surprising regulatory turnaround in the prospects for a spot ETF for that asset.
Macro conditions could provide next catalyst
This week's muted action in bitcoin – the price has essentially stayed in the $67,000-$69,000 range – came alongside struggles for other risk assets, U.S. stocks amongst them. While still remaining close to all-time highs, the Nasdaq is lower by about 2% this week, while the S&P 500 is off by roughly 1.5%.
U.S. economic data continued to have the scent of stagflation, with the April Core PCE Price Index up 2.8% year-over-year, in line with expectations and the same pace as the previous month. The May Chicago PMI plunged to 35.4 versus expectations for 41 and 37.9 in April. Only in the depths of the 2008/2009 global financial crisis and the March/April 2020 Covid lockdowns has May's weak read been matched. The bond market rallied following the news, with the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield down 5.5 basis points to 4.50%.
June begins Saturday and next week should bring a bit more clarity to the U.S. economic picture thanks to Monday's national PMI report and Friday's national employment report. Confirmation of softening economic conditions, and with those improved prospects for lower interest rates, might prove to be the catalyst for bitcoin's attempt at breaching its all time high above $73,000 set in March. Strong economic data, however, could mean a retest of the May lows.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Proposed ‘AfterDark’ Bitcoin ETF Would Skip U.S. Trading Hours
The fund would hold bitcoin only overnight, betting on data showing bitcon gains mostly occur outside regular market hours.
What to know:
- Nicholas Financial has filed with the SEC to launch a bitcoin ETF that holds BTC only during overnight hours.
- The “AfterDark” ETF buys bitcoin after U.S. stocks close for the day and then sells bitcoin and shifts into Treasuries during the American session.
- Data shows bitcoin tending to perform better when traditional U.S. markets are closed.
Top Stories
