QCP Capital says its trading desk saw 'bullish flows' during bitcoin price dip

Bitcoin and ether are at a “buy the dip” moment in between post-payrolls data and at least one more interest-rate cut from the U.S., Singapore-based crypto trading firm QCP Capital said in a recent market update.

Last Friday’s non-farm payroll data, a key indicator of U.S. job market, showed a stronger-than-expected monthly gain of 272,000 in May, exceeding the forecast of 185,000. However, this was matched by a rise in the unemployment rate, which ticked up to 4.0% from 3.9%. 

This mixed U.S. economic data triggered a “risk-off” in the market where investors pulled away from riskier assets due to the uncertainty of the numbers ahead of inflation numbers and the next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting expected this week, according to QCP. 

“Our desk saw bullish flows on this dip, both sellers of aggressive puts and buyers of call spreads especially in BTC,” the trading firm said. 

Bitcoin, ether prices fall

According to The Block’s price page, bitcoin’s price dropped from a level near $72,000 to around $69,000 on Friday after the U.S. data reveal. At the time of publication, bitcoin was changing hands at $69,424. Ether also showed similar movements, currently trading at $3,673.

“It will be difficult for the U.S. to ignore as the rest of the world continues to cut rates," QCP Capital said. Many other central banks, including the European Central Bank and the Bank of Canada, have also recently made rate cuts.

For the upcoming FOMC meeting, however, CME Group forecasts that there is a 99.4% chance that the U.S. will maintain the current interest rate of 5.25% to 5.50% instead of easing. In line with QCP’s prediction, Reuters’ poll of economists showed that the Fed is likely to cut rates twice this year, starting in September.