Investing.com-- Bitcoin price rose marginally on Tuesday but remained squarely within a trading range established over the past two months as focus remained squarely on U.S. inflation data for more cues on interest rates.
A recovery in capital flows into crypto investment products translated into little price action, even as investment products saw their first inflows in five weeks.
Bitcoin rose 2.5% over the past 24 hours to $62,498.6 by 01:05 ET (05:055 GMT).
Bitcoin treads water, crypto capital flows improve
The world’s biggest cryptocurrency took little support from data showing that crypto investment products- specifically spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds- saw their first weekly capital inflows in five weeks.
Data from digital assets manager CoinShares showed crypto products saw inflows totalling $130 million in the week to May 12, with a bulk of these directed towards the U.S..
The launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in Hong Kong also sparked some inflows.
But despite the improvement in capital flows, overall trading volumes in crypto investment products remained largely dismal, staying well below highs seen in March when Bitcoin hit a lifetime peak.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency settled into a slim trading range between $60,000 and $70,000 over the past two months, as a mix of interest rate fears, regulatory uncertainty and waning ETF hype spurred little actual price action. The token's hotly anticipated halving event also landed with a thud.
Crypto price today: Altcoins advance, but inflation angst limits gains
Broader crypto markets also tracked Bitcoin higher on Tuesday. World no.2 token Ethereum rose 1.8% to $2,936.00, while Solana and XRP added 6.5% and 3%, respectively.
Memecoins saw some better gains, tracking an overnight rally in meme stocks such as GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC) on Wall Street. Dogecoin rose nearly 10%, while newer memecoin PEPE added over 20%.
Still, overall crypto prices remained largely subdued in anticipation of key U.S. inflation data this week.
Producer price index inflation data is due later on Tuesday, while the more closely-watched consumer price index inflation data is due on Wednesday.
Both readings are widely expected to factor into the outlook for U.S. rates, and come amid persistent concerns that rates will remain high for longer.
The prospect of high U.S. rates bodes poorly for crypto markets, given that they usually thrive in low-rate, high-liquidity markets.