Bitcoin and Stock Market Volatility Ahead of US GDP Report Release

CoinDesk reports:
Ahead of the final U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data due later today, the Bitcoin and wider cryptocurrency market is in turmoil. Most of the assets in the top 100 coins by market cap are in the red.
According to CoinGecko, Bitcoin has once again broken the $61,000 barrier, currently trading at $60,670 at the time of writing.
The final U.S. GDP data is expected to show growth of 1.3%, a key indicator of whether the economy is growing or contracting. This figure is important as it plays a crucial role in the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates. Strong GDP data could bolster the Fed’s determination to keep rates unchanged, while weak GDP data could hasten the rate-cutting process.
Earlier this month, comments from the Fed suggested there may only be one rate cut this year, leading to a selloff in the cryptocurrency market as investors were cautious about investing in risk assets in a high-rate environment.
As June approaches, leading cryptocurrencies have performed poorly this month, with Bitcoin down about 10% so far. The Fed’s more hawkish stance than expected has played a key role in this downturn, but it is not the only factor at play.
On Monday, it was reported that Mt. Gox creditors will start receiving repayments from early July, spooking market participants as nearly $9 billion worth of Bitcoin will be distributed to investors who have been unable to access the funds for over a decade.
Yesterday, the U.S. government sent $240 million worth of BTC to Coinbase’s institutional arm, Coinbase Prime.
In addition to the U.S. government, German authorities have been actively selling the BTC they seized. In the past two weeks, German authorities have sold nearly $225 million worth of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is not the only major cryptocurrency losing ground.
Ethereum, BNB, and Solana all dropped at least 1% early this morning. Of the top 100 coins by market cap on CoinGecko, one-sixth of the coins saw gains of over 2% in the past 24 hours.
Maker, Kaspa, and Ethereum Name Service saw prices rise by 7%, 6.7%, and 4.3% respectively, while Injective, Flare, and Aave saw price increases between 2.5% and 3.5%.
Edited by Stacey Elliott.