 "Bitcoin sags after its longest streak of monthly gains since 2021")
By Akshay Chinchalkar and Sunil Jagtiani
Bitcoin slipped back Monday after climbing for four consecutive months through April in the longest such winning run since 2021.
The token slid as much as 3.6% and was trading at $28,504 as of 6:40 a.m. in New York. Smaller coins such as Ether and Solana also retreated, as did an index of the top 100 digital assets.
Bitcoin’s 72% rebound in 2023 from last year’s crypto rout has stalled around the $30,000 level as traders await further catalysts. The rally has been fueled by bets on an eventual Federal Reserve pivot to looser monetary policy as well as arguments that the US banking crisis eroded confidence in fiat currency.
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Bitcoin and the wider crypto world remain exposed to a variety of risks, such as the US crackdown on the sector and the possibility of traders paring back expectations that monetary policy will become less restrictive later this year.
For now, the Fed is expected to boost interest rates by another quarter percentage point on Wednesday to damp inflation even as economic risks build.
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