Leading cryptocurrencies remained rangebound as investors search for catalysts amid hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve.

What Happened: Bitcoin bounced above $66,000 during the early morning hours, but retreated to $64,000 as traders took profits. The world's largest cryptocurrency has trended downward after hitting $71,000 earlier in the month.

Ethereum's spike to $3,600 was short-lived, as the asset faced stiff resistance at this level.

In the last 24 hours, about $125 million in derivatives bets was wiped out, with long liquations accounting for $70 million.

Traders were hesitant as Open Interest for Bitcoin and Ethereum fell 0.37% and 3.12%, respectively. A drop in OI alongside flat price movements signaled a weak market.

Bearish bets for Bitcoin surpassed bullish bets, as the Long/Shorts Ratio dropped below 1 in the last 24 hours.

Nearly 50% of the market was bearish on Bitcoin as of this writing, with 20% neutral, and 30% hopeful of upward swings.

Top Gainer (24-Hours)

The global cryptocurrency market cap stands at $2.35 trillion, shrinking 0.61% in the last 24 hours.

Stocks retraced from records on Thursday. The broad market index S&P 500 closed 0.25% lower at 5,473.17 after breaching 5,500 for the first time earlier in the day. The tech heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.79% lower to end at 17,721.59. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.77% to finish at 39,134.76 by the closing bell.

The pullback was fueled by a 3.5% drop in shares of AI giant NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), the major driver of stocks lately.

Moreover, macroeconomic data showed signs of a weaker economy, with jobless claims rising higher-than-expected, along with contractions in housing starts and building permits.

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Analyst Notes: Popular analyst in cryptocurrency circles, Kevin, noticed a "super interesting" development for Bitcoin.

The whale money flow dropped to its lowest level, which typically precedes reversals, Kevin remarked.

"Not even in the beat market of 2018 did we go below the level we are at now and you can see that this indicator called are local top a few months ago once it broke into the top zone," the analyst stated.

Another popular figure Michaël van de Poppe noted that the King Crypto has bottomed in the $63,000–$65,000 range, gearing for an upward move.

"The reversal is on the horizon," Van de Poppe predicted, echoing the previous forecast.