Investing.com – Bitcoin’s price rose slightly on Monday, holding steady after failing to hit record highs, causing the cryptocurrency to post hefty losses over the weekend.
Risk appetite was also strained amid expectations of a tight presidential election, while investors became more skeptical of speculative assets ahead of this week’s Federal Reserve meeting.
rose 0.9% to $68,735.0 by 09:32 ET (14:32 GMT).
Election shocks hit Bitcoin as Harris gains ground
Recent polls have shown that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris face a tight race, with the vote scheduled for Tuesday. The race is expected to be largely decided by seven key battleground states.
Trump was considered a more favorable candidate by cryptocurrency markets, given that he presented a largely pro-crypto stance in the last campaign. Harris, on the other hand, pledged to introduce a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, but did not elaborate on her stance towards the industry.
Prediction markets have largely favored a Trump victory over the past few weeks. However, over the last few sessions this trend has changed and Harris has regained some advantage.
Online forecasting site Polymarket showed Harris’s odds at 44%, up sharply from 35% last week, while Trump’s odds were at 56%, down sharply from the 66% seen last week.
This change was a major factor behind Bitcoin’s recent losses. Last week, the token surged as high as $73,600, just shy of its record high in March this year.
Bitcoin volatility surges ahead of election
With the US presidential election just days away, Bitcoin is seeing a significant enhance in expected price fluctuations as the political landscape intensifies.
Bitcoin’s implied volatility index rose to 63.24% year-over-year, the highest since July, according to data from Deribit, a leading crypto options platform. Implied volatility measures expected price changes over a set period – in this case, the next 30 days – giving insight into market expectations for potential price movements.
This enhance in expected volatility reflects investor sentiment as markets brace for possible turmoil in the tight US presidential race between Trump and Harris.
Crypto Price Today: Altcoins Mixed Amid Fed Uncertainty
Broader cryptocurrency prices were also largely subdued, with anticipation of the Federal Reserve meeting later this week adding to uncertainty.
The world’s No. 2 cryptocurrency rose 1% to $2,454.17 and also saw a acute decline over the weekend.
Among other altcoins, i gained 2.8% and 1.7%, respectively, while i fell about 0.8% each. Among meme tokens, it jumped 7%.
The Fed is widely expected to cut interest rates by a smaller cut than the 50 basis point cut in September.
Any signs of future rate cuts will be closely watched, given that recent data has shown some stickiness in U.S. inflation at a time of cooling in the labor market.
Amber Warrick contributed to this report.
