Bitcoin was trading sideways on Friday, even as gold rallied to three-month highs amid a renewed drop in U.S. real (inflation-adjusted) bond yields.
The cryptocurrency was changing hands for $56,500 at 11:00 UTC, continuing a week-long consolidation in the range of $52,000 to $59,000, according to CoinDesk 20 data.
Gold, a traditional store-of-value asset, rose to $1,820 per ounce, the highest level since Feb. 16. The move came a day after the U.S. 10-year real yield fell to a three-month low of -0.88%, per data from the U.S. Department of Treasury.
“Lower real rates boost gold which now trades below fair value,” ByteTree CIO Charlie Morris tweeted Thursday.
The collapse in real yields was in large part responsible for risk-taking across financial markets last year, as noted by MarketWatch. In addition, some institutions poured money into bitcoin amid fears over inflation. As such, some crypto market participants became more cautious in late February and early March 2021, after a brief spike in real yields to -0.57%.
However, the latest bout of weakness in the inflation-adjusted 10-year yield is struggling so far to push bitcoin higher.
Since mid-March, the yield has dropped by 30 basis points, marking a steady increase in inflation-adjusted loss for bond investors. Bitcoin registered a moderate decline of 1% during that time-frame, while gold has responded positively, rising from $1,700 to over $1,800.
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