Investing.com-- Bitcoin’s price rose slightly on Monday, steadying after a failed push towards record highs saw the cryptocurrency nursing steep losses over the weekend.
Risk appetite was also strained by anticipation of a tight presidential election, while traders turned more skeptical towards speculative assets before a Federal Reserve meeting this week.
Bitcoin rose 0.9% to $68,735.0 by 09:32 ET (14:32 GMT).
Election jitters dent Bitcoin as Harris gained some ground
Recent polls showed Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were headed for a tight race, with voting set for Tuesday. The race is expected to be largely determined by seven key battleground states.
Trump was regarded as the more favorable candidate by crypto markets, given that he has presented a largely pro-crypto stance in recent campaigning. Harris, on the other hand, has pledged to a crypto regulatory framework, but has not elaborated on her stance towards the industry.
Prediction markets over the past few weeks had largely favored a Trump victory. But this trend shifted over the past few sessions, with Harris regaining some ground.
Online prediction site Polymarket showed Harris’ odds at 44%, up substantially from 35% last week, while Trump’s odds were at 56%, down sharply from the 66% seen last week.
The shift was a large factor behind Bitcoin’s recent losses. The token had risen as high as $73,600 last week, coming within spitting distance of a record high hit in March this year.
Bitcoin volatility spikes ahead of election
With the U.S. presidential election just a day away, Bitcoin is seeing a significant surge in anticipated price swings as the political landscape intensifies.
According to data from Deribit, the leading crypto options platform, Bitcoin’s implied volatility index has jumped to 63.24% on an annualized basis, the highest it has been since July. Implied volatility gauges the expected price movements over a set period—here, the next 30 days—offering a glimpse into market expectations for potential price fluctuations.
This spike in projected volatility mirrors investor sentiment, as markets brace for possible turbulence amid the tight U.S. presidential race between Trump and Harris.
Crypto price today: altcoins mixed amid Fed uncertainty
Broader crypto prices were also largely subdued, with anticipation of a Federal Reserve meeting later this week adding to the uncertainty.
World no.2 crypto Ether rose 1% to $2,454.17 and was also nursing a sharp fall over the weekend.
Among other altcoins, XRP and SOL added 2.8% and 1.7%, respectively, while ADA and MATIC slid around 0.8% each. Among meme tokens, DOGE jumped 7%.
The Fed is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points- a smaller cut than the 50 bps cut in September.
Any signals on future rate cuts will be closely watched, given that recent data showed some stickiness in U.S. inflation, while the labor market cooled.
Ambar Warrick contributed to this report.