Bitcoin traded in a narrow range on Friday, hovering near the $87,000 level<\/strong>, as investors continued to adopt a cautious stance despite softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data that reinforced expectations of future Federal Reserve rate cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The world\u2019s largest cryptocurrency was last seen 0.6% higher at $87,121<\/strong>, but remained on track to post a weekly loss of nearly 4%<\/strong>, extending a consolidation phase that has dominated trading in recent weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bitcoin has struggled throughout December to regain momentum above the $90,000 psychological resistance<\/strong>, with each attempt failing to attract sustained buying interest. Thin liquidity typical of year-end trading has exacerbated the lack of conviction, keeping volumes subdued and encouraging range-bound behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With fewer participants active in the market, even modest flows have struggled to produce a decisive move, leaving Bitcoin confined to a tight band and vulnerable to short-term reversals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thursday\u2019s U.S. consumer price index showed annual inflation easing to 2.7%<\/strong>, below expectations. The data strengthened market confidence that the Federal Reserve will have more room to cut interest rates in 2026<\/strong>, with futures markets now pricing in a higher probability of earlier policy easing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In theory, lower interest rates tend to favor risk assets such as cryptocurrencies by reducing the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding investments like Bitcoin. However, the inflation surprise failed to generate an immediate upside response, underscoring the market\u2019s lack of strong catalysts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adding to the longer-term narrative, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)<\/strong>\u2014the owner of the New York Stock Exchange\u2014was reported by Bloomberg to be in talks to invest in crypto payments firm MoonPay<\/strong>, which is targeting a valuation of around $5 billion<\/strong>. The discussions highlight growing institutional engagement with digital assets, supported by a more favorable regulatory and political backdrop in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Broader crypto markets mirrored Bitcoin\u2019s muted tone. Ethereum<\/strong> edged higher, while XRP, Solana, and Cardano<\/strong> traded largely flat. Meme tokens posted modest gains, but overall activity remained subdued, reflecting a market waiting for clearer macro or crypto-specific signals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For now, Bitcoin\u2019s outlook remains closely tied to liquidity conditions, Fed policy expectations, and year-end market dynamics<\/strong>, with a decisive breakout likely deferred until trading volumes normalize in the new year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bitcoin traded in a narrow range on Friday, hovering near the $87,000 level, as investors continued to adopt a cautious stance despite softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data that reinforced expectations of future Federal Reserve rate cuts. The world\u2019s largest cryptocurrency was last seen 0.6% higher at $87,121, but remained on track to post a weekly loss …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":54500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,6827,49,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-cryptocurrencies","category-daily-economic-reports","category-economic-reports","category-market-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121890"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121891,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121890\/revisions\/121891"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Range-bound price action persists<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Softer U.S. CPI supports rate-cut narrative<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Institutional interest simmers in the background<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Altcoins remain subdued<\/h3>\n\n\n\n