Bitcoin portrayed steady performance on Thursday, January 25, morning, following the revelation of 3.3% gross domestic product growth by the US in the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter growth triumphed over modest projections by economists who anticipated 2% in the fourth quarter.
US GDP Beats Modest Projection by Economists
Despite the modest projections, the Bureau of Economic Analysis noted that GDP growth was slowing down and unlikely to replicate the 4.9% realized in the third quarter.
The 3.3% realized in GDP growth implies that the economy nearly matched the 3.4% inflation rate in December.
Inflation involves the speed that which goods and services prices increase. With other factors remaining constant, high inflation rates indicate potential erosion of the capability to afford the expenditure.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis revealed in its Thursday morning disclosure that consumer and government expenditure fueled the GDP growth realized in the fourth quarter.
By Thursday morning, the Bitcoin token was exchanging hands at $39,817, representing a mild slip hours after reclaiming the $40,000 in early Wednesday morning trade.
The global largest crypto by capitalization nearly realized $30 billion of daily trading volume as per CoinGecko data. The figures show increased market activity following the release of quarterly growth data.
The disclosure of solid GDP growth coincides with the deadline for expiring billions of crypto futures. Crypto futures constitute a derivative that investors leverage in predicting the subsequent price movement of crypto assets, currencies and commodities.
Bitcoin to Regain Uptrend Momentum
The Friday deadline for the future expiry is notable even with over $3.7 billion of Bitcoin options experying. The notional open interest expiry carries a maximum pain level of $41,000.
Deribit chief commercial executive Luuk Strijers indicated that the expiry for Ethereum options notional open interest at $2 billion carries a maximum pain level of $2,300.
Strijers explained that most traders are signaling that they would unlikely allow the contracts to expire. The commercial head at Deribit indicates that the period features multiple activities within the January and February expiries, indicative that many traders prefer rolling the positions to future dates.
Bitcoin is steadying ahead of the expiry deadline in what concludes a hectic January that saw the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approve bids for 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The approval of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust’s bid to convert into spot Bitcoin ETF saw sizable outflows as investors preferred cashing in their profits.
The GBTC sell-off has imposed downtrend momentum for the Bitcoin token. In particular, the sale fueled strong headwinds plunging Bitcoin to low levels that tested $38,678 at the onset of the week.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan analysts consider the GBTC profit taking to slow down, thereby triggering likely recovery for Bitcoin price.