Investing.com– rose marginally on Thursday, constrained by persistent risk aversion after the Federal Reserve struck a hawkish chord and as the U.S. kept up its attacks on Iran.
Broader cryptocurrency prices also trended sideways, with focus turning to upcoming earnings from Strategy Inc for more cues on the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin treasury.
Bitcoin edged up 0.5% to $64,947.8 by 09:08 ET (13:08 GMT).
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Strategy Q2 earnings on tap, Bitcoin sales in focus
Strategy Inc () is set to report second-quarter earnings after the market close on Thursday, and is expected to post earnings per share of $0.79 on revenue of $122.93 million.
But focus will be squarely on the company’s massive Bitcoin stockpile, especially after it began selling some of its holdings this year, for the first time in nearly four years.
The company is expected to log a massive unrealized loss on its Bitcoin holdings, given that the world’s largest crypto has traded well below Strategy’s $75,400 average acquisition cost.
Strategy had already logged a major loss on its digital asset holdings in the past two quarters.
The company made zero Bitcoin purchases in the four weeks leading up to its earnings, while actively selling shares to build up its cash reserves. It had earlier this year sold some of its Bitcoin holdings to meet increasing capital and debt obligations, given that it has funded its massive 843,775 Bitcoin reserve through debt and share issuances.
Focus will be squarely on whether the Michael Saylor-led firm plans signal even more sales of its holdings.
Bitcoin under pressure from rate uncertainty, Iran tensions
Bitcoin remained on the backfoot after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates as expected on Wednesday evening. But the hold was marked by at least three members of the central bank calling for a hike, in the face of increasingly sticky inflation.
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh also provided scant details on the bank’s plans to maintain its 2% annual inflation target, although he did reiterate its commitment to the target, sparking fears that rates will rise this year.
Higher rates bode poorly for speculative, non-yielding plays like Bitcoin.
Broader risk aversion also weighed on crypto markets as the U.S. launched another wave of strikes on Iran late-Wednesday, drawing retaliatory attacks from Tehran.
The latest attacks come after U.S. President Donald Trump warned that the U.S. would hit Iran very hard over recent attacks on U.S. bases in the Middle East.
The attacks sparked a sharp increase in oil prices, driving persistent concerns that high energy-driven inflation will elicit more interest rate hikes from major global central banks.
Crypto price today: altcoins trade sideways, tracking Bitcoin
Broader crypto prices traded sideways in tandem with Bitcoin.
World no.2 crypto Ether gained 1% to $1,926.34, while XRP gained 0.7%.
Solana and Cardano climbed 0.9% and 0.6%, respectively, while BNB rose 2.9%.
Memecoins were mixed, with Dogecoin down 0.8%, while $TRUMP added nearly 1%.
Vahid Karaahmetovic contributed to this report.