The price of Bitcoin drops to a two-month low as the Federal Reserve indicates that it is not yet prepared to reduce interest rates.

• In the past 24 hours, Bitcoin dropped approximately 5% to $56,837, marking the first time it fell below $57,000 since May 1, according to CoinGecko's data.
• In March this year, the price of Bitcoin reached an unprecedented high of over $70,000 following the approval of the first U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF. However, since then, it has been trading within a narrow range.
• The Federal Reserve is hesitant to lower interest rates until more data indicates that inflation is approaching its 2% target, as indicated by minutes from its June meeting.

The price of the stock fell to approximately $57,000 per share on Thursday, reaching a two-month low, following the release of the U.S. Federal Reserve's minutes from its June meeting indicating that the central bank is not yet prepared to reduce interest rates.

At 5:05 p.m. London time, bitcoin was trading at $57,932.57, down 3.4% since its 24-hour low of $56,837, which occurred at around 2:30 p.m. London time.

The world's second-largest cryptocurrency, ether, experienced a 5% decline to reach a price of $3,120.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday released minutes from its June meeting, indicating that officials are hesitant to lower interest rates until more data shows inflation moving steadily towards the central bank's 2% target.

Investor risk appetite is dampened by higher interest rates, which are typically less favorable for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

In March 2021, Bitcoin reached a new record high of over $73,700 following the approval of the first U.S. ETF by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Institutional investors can easily get involved in the bitcoin asset class through ETFs that track its price without owning the underlying cryptocurrency, according to crypto proponents who argue this has helped legitimize the asset class.

Bitcoin has been trading within a range of approximately $59,000 to $72,000 since then.

The collapse of Mt. Gox is putting pressure on the world's largest cryptocurrency, which is expected to result in significant selling action.

According to a research report by CCData's analysts, bitcoin has not yet reached the peak of its current growth cycle and is expected to achieve a new record high.

The report indicates that historical market trends have consistently shown that bitcoin's "halving" event, which reduces the supply of new bitcoins, is followed by a period of price growth that can last between 12 to 18 months before reaching a cycle peak.

The last bitcoin halving occurred on April 19 this year, so the historical timeframes have not yet elapsed.

According to CCData, the decline in trading activity on centralized exchanges observed for nearly two months after the halving event in previous cycles has mirrored this cycle. This indicates that the current cycle may continue into 2025.

Despite the upcoming disbursement of tokens from Mt. Gox, Bitcoin bull Tom Lee predicts that Bitcoin will reach $150,000.

If I had invested in crypto, knowing that one of the biggest overhangs would disappear in July, I would expect a sharp rebound in the second half, according to Fundstrat Global Advisors' co-founder and head of research, Lee, in a TV interview.