Bitcoin Breaches $30,000 Level As Investors Eye End Of Fed Rate Hikes

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Bitcoin was last up 1.96% at $30,233. (Representational)

Major cryptocurrency bitcoin breached the key $30,000 level for the first time in 10 months on Tuesday, adding to its steady gains as investors raised bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve will soon end its aggressive monetary tightening campaign.

Bitcoin peaked at $30,438 in Asian trade and was last up 1.96% at $30,233. It has gained nearly 6% since the start of the month, after rising 23% in March.

Investors are awaiting a U.S. inflation report on Wednesday to assess the Fed's next steps after banking sector turmoil in March raised expectations that the central bank would let up on rate hikes to ease stress on the sector.

"The recent surge in bitcoin's price is like a breath of fresh air after a long, cold crypto winter," said Tim Frost, CEO of crypto yield platform Yield App.

"This renewed optimism could be attributed to an anticipated shift in the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy, which is expected to create a more stable, and hopefully predictable, environment."

Boosting the case for rate hikes, however, Friday's closely watched U.S. nonfarm payrolls (NFP) report showed employers maintained a strong pace of hiring in March, pointing to a still-resilient economy.

"There were some expectations of a potential miss on NFP on Friday, and that's bolstered confidence coming into" the readout of U.S. consumer price index data, said Joseph Edwards, investment adviser at Enigma Securities.

Crypto investment products attracted $57 million in inflows last week - albeit on low volume - with most of the money focused on bitcoin, digital asset manager CoinShares said on Monday. This brings digital asset flows back into positive territory for the year, the report showed.

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