Autor Cointelegraph by Vince Quill

The price of Bitcoin may be headed to the $60,000 level after breaking past a “crucial” support zone between $75,000 and $76,000, according to crypto market analyst Michaël van de Poppe.Bitcoin fell below the support zone on Friday, van de Poppe said, adding that market corrections occurring on Fridays “flip back bullish quite often.” There are also “multiple” Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Bitcoin futures gaps above the spot market price, the highest of which is over $79,000, he added. He continued:“That said, if Bitcoin doesn’t grind back upwards to $76,600 [or more], then there’s clearly no argument to assume that we are going to get into new highs and just remain within this range.”Bitcoin breaks below the critical support zone around $75,000. Source: Michaël van de PoppeThe forecast comes amid macroeconomic uncertainty over newly appointed Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh and his interest rate policies, while the Bitcoin bear market drags on for the seventh month.Related: Bitcoin longs soar despite weak US macroeconomic data: Is $82K BTC next?Bullish or bearish? Analysts weigh in on where BTC is headed next The Polymarket odds of Bitcoin hitting $55,000 in 2026 are 51% at the time of publication, while the odds of it falling to $45,000 are at 31%.However, 71% of the circulating supply is held by long-term holders, making a break below $60,000 unlikely, according to onchain data. Bitcoin has rallied for about 90 days following the $60,000 low reached in February, signaling a bull market rally, according to trader and crypto market analyst Matthew Hyland.“There has never been a rally that trended upward for 89 days ever in a bear market in BTC history,” Hyland said, adding, “The break of high time frame resistance has also marked the start of a bull market rally the prior three times.” Source: Matthew HylandDespite the rally over the last several months, Bitcoin’s inability to hold critical price support levels could signal months of consolidation, according to other analysts.Bitcoin continues to trade well below its 365-day and 200-day exponential moving averages (EMA), two dynamic support levels, and closed below the 50-day EMA on Friday, TradingView data shows. Magazine: Bitcoin will not hit $1M by 2030, says veteran trader Peter Brandt

Kevin Warsh, who was sworn in as the chairman of the United States Federal Reserve on Friday, will likely slash interest rates, despite the “consensus” view that he will raise interest rates, according to author, Bitcoin investor and market analyst Lawrence Lepard.Lepard said that comments from other US officials, including Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, support the likelihood of rate cuts in 2026. He added: “Warsh will cut. He will use the AI productivity and trimmed inflation excuses and will claim that all the war inflation is transitory. Two data points from today’s Wall Street Journal support this view.” Source: Lawrence LepardDuring Warsh’s swearing-in ceremony on Friday, US President Donald Trump said that the US would tackle its rising national debt through “growth,” signaling an expansion of the monetary supply and a lower interest rate regime.Investors, traders, and analysts continue to debate about Warsh’s impact on interest rate policy and whether he will cut interest rates, which would boost risk-on asset prices, including Bitcoin and crypto.Related: Odds against rate cuts high as new US Fed chair set for swearing inTraders forecast rate hikes in 2026, as uncertainty mounts over new Fed chair Nearly 68% of traders have priced in an interest rate hike of 25 basis points (BPS) or more by December 2026, according to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group’s FedWatch tool.“We want to stop inflation, but we don’t want to stop greatness,” Trump said on Friday, which was met with skepticism from investors, economists and market analysts.Kevin Warsh gives his acceptance speech at his swearing-in ceremony on Friday. Source: The White HouseIn April, US lawmakers scrutinized Warsh’s commitment to preserving Federal Reserve independence, casting doubt on whether Warsh would resist pressure from the Executive Branch to loosen monetary policy.Senator Elizabeth Warren said that Warsh’s appointment could create potential conflicts of interest, in which the Trump family’s crypto businesses benefit from policies enacted by the new Fed chair.Meanwhile, Bitcoin, crypto and stock investors could face several months of declining asset prices following the Fed’s leadership transition, as uncertainty over interest rate policy grows. Magazine: Is China hoarding gold so yuan becomes global reserve instead of USD?

The Bitcoin community celebrated the 16th anniversary of “Pizza Day” on Friday, marking the first recorded commercial Bitcoin transaction, in which real-world goods were purchased with Bitcoin.In May 2010, software developer Laszlo Hanyecz published an online post offering 10,000 BTC, which was valued at about $41 at the time, in exchange for two Papa John’s pizzas.At current market prices, the BTC is worth more than $767 million, and at the all-time high of about $126,000 reached in October 2025, the 10,000 BTC was valued at more than $1.2 billion. Nischal Shetty, the founder of crypto exchange WazirX, said: “Bitcoin Pizza Day is one of the most important moments in crypto history because it transformed Bitcoin from an internet experiment into a real economic network. It was actually the first proof that a decentralized digital asset could facilitate real-world commerce.”At the time, only a “few hundred” transactions were processed on the Bitcoin network daily, and there was “almost no” Bitcoin payment infrastructure, service providers or institutional involvement, Shetty added. Laszlo Hanyecz in 2010, with the two Papa John’s pizzas. Source: CoingeckoHanyecz’s transaction showed that Bitcoin can be used as a medium of exchange to pay for goods and services in the real world, moving the world’s first digital currency from online experimentation to real-world utility.Related: US lawmakers renew strategic Bitcoin reserve push with ARMA billBitcoiners now have their eyes set on nation-state adoptionIn 2024, nation-state adoption of Bitcoin began to capture narrative attention, with the Bitcoin community supporting initiatives like a strategic Bitcoin reserve and tax exemptions for Bitcoin payments.The Iranian government announced in April 2026 that oil ships crossing through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping waterway located in the Persian Gulf, could pay for shipping tolls in Bitcoin, US dollar stablecoins and Chinese yuan.A timeline of the Iranian government’s adoption of Bitcoin and other digital assets. Source: Bitcoin Policy InstituteHowever, there is no onchain evidence of an oil toll being paid in BTC at the time of publication. Instead, Tether’s USDt dollar-pegged stablecoin continues to be the payment method of choice for the tolls, according to Sam Lyman, the head of research at Bitcoin Policy Institute, a digital asset advocacy organization.Magazine: Big Questions: Can Bitcoin save you from the dreaded Cantillon Effect?

Kevin Warsh was sworn in on Friday as the chairman of the United States Federal Reserve, but investors and traders still forecast no interest rate cuts for the rest of 2026.Speaking at the ceremony, US President Donald Trump said that Warsh will remain “independent” of the Executive Branch regarding interest rate policy, and claimed that employment numbers are at record levels. “Thankfully, unlike some of his predecessors, Kevin understands that when the economy is booming, that’s a good thing,” Trump said. He added:“We do have some debt we would like to take care of, and the way you do that is through growth. We are going to grow our way out of it so fast.” Warsh, pictured on the left, is sworn into office by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Source: The White House“We want to stop inflation, but we don’t want to stop greatness,” Trump continued, drawing mixed reactions from investors and economists, who weighed the likelihood of the Federal Reserve continuing to expand the monetary supply through low interest rates.Lower interest rates are stimulative for risk-on assets like Bitcoin and crypto; however, cheap access to credit can also cause inflationary spikes, as individuals and institutions are encouraged to borrow cheaply and spend money on investments and commercial goods.Related: Senate confirms Kevin Warsh to lead Federal ReserveInvestors forecast a 0% likelihood of interest rate cuts in 2026 Investors forecast no chance of an interest rate cut in 2026, and potential rate hikes at the remaining Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings, according to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s (CME) FedWatch tool.3.5% of investors forecast a 25 basis point (BPS) interest rate hike at the next FOMC meeting, scheduled for June 17, according to CME data. For context, the current Federal Funds Target rate is between 350 and 375 BPS. Interest rate target probabilities for the June FOMC meeting. Source: CME GroupThe probability of a 25 BPS rate hike at the July FOMC meeting surged to 17%, and about 67% of investors forecast a rate hike at the FOMC’s final meeting in December.The lack of interest rate cuts and macroeconomic uncertainty regarding the change at the Federal Reserve could negatively impact risk assets like Bitcoin, crypto and equities over the next several months.Magazine: Will the CLARITY Act be good — or bad — for DeFi?

Harvard Management Company, the entity that manages Harvard University’s endowment fund, sold all of its Ether (ETH) holdings after just one quarter, according to its Q1 2026 United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.The endowment no longer holds the $87 million in BlackRock iShares Ethereum Trust exchange-traded fund (ETF) shares, which it held in Q4 2025, according to its Q1 2026 SEC filing.Harvard also reduced its exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) in Q1 2026, offloading about 2.3 million Bitcoin ETF shares. The endowment fund still holds more than 3 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, valued at nearly $117 million.Harvard’s asset holdings as of Q1 2026. Source: SECThe change in holdings follows a turbulent year for ETH, which has fallen by over 50% from the all-time high of nearly $5,000 reached in August 2025, and several high-profile departures at the Ethereum Foundation (EF), the organization that oversees the ecosystem.Related: Dartmouth endowment invests in Solana ETF, holds $14M in crypto exposureKey personnel leave the Ethereum Foundation, as the organization receives flak Julian Ma and Carl Beek, two researchers at the EF, recently announced their departure from the organization, bringing the total number of departures in 2026 to eight.Josh Stark, a longtime researcher and former project manager at the Foundation, also left the organization in April. The departures follow several organizational and leadership changes at the EF, which began in January 2025.   Source: Josh StarkIn March, the EF published a mandate outlining its goals and its focus on upholding decentralization, privacy, open-source software code and censorship resistance.However, the mandate and the overall stance of the organization were met with mixed reactions from the crypto community.The core pillars outlined in the EF’s mandate are “great” and “worth fighting for,” according to journalist Laura Shin, but the EF should also focus on tokeneomics and raising the price of its native asset, she added. “The Ethereum Foundation seems to want to sit back on its laurels and act above it all when all its competitors are all getting down and dirty on the field to gain market share,” Shin said.Magazine: Why is Ethereum Foundation selling? BTC futures warning signs: Market Moves