Bitcoin In 'Criticial Range,' Ethereum Teases 'Historic' Monthly Close, Inflation Data Incoming: Crypto's Week Ahead

Benzinga previews the week ahead in the global cryptocurrency markets.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin is hovering around the $51,380 mark, 1.5% down over the past seven days.

Lambda Markets, a trading platform sees Bitcoin in a range between $50,000 and $53,000, saying "it’s going to take some work for bulls to get through" the resistance.

Crypto chart analyst Ali Martinez has a similar outlook:

Ethereum

Ethereum ETH/USD has outperformed Bitcoin over the past week, notching a 5.9% gain to trade around $3,070. 

The week started with Lookonchain data showing that whale wallets are accumulating, having withdrawn around $64 million worth of ETH from major exchanges.

Lambda Markets is bullish on ETH, backed by the spot Ethereum ETF decision looming on May 23. 

Crypto analyst Rekt Capital sees Ethereum on the verge of a historic monthly close:

Also Read: Miss Out On Crypto's Future? What You Need To Know About SIPs

Altcoins

Altcoins continue to rally, with analytics platform Glassnode seeing a resurgence in altcoin trading and a "cautious yet growing interest in longer-tail assets."

Analysts are also bullish, with crypto and macro stock markets trader Matthew Hyland who usually does not care for memecoins, noting that Pepe PEPE/USD is forming an Inverse Head and Shoulders pattern. He tweeted: “risk-reward way too high to not have exposure, I'm signed up personally.”

Macroeconomic Events

Among the events slated for this week are:

• The U.S. Core PCE data (Thursday) which is a preferred yardstick of inflation for the U.S. Federal Reserve. It is expected to remain elevated thereby supporting the Fed’s decision to not cut almost as much as the market had expected at the start of the year.
• China's manufacturing data (Friday) will indicate if the stimulus effort is having an impact on the real economy. Analysts expect it to come in at 49.1 compared to 40.2 prior.

Moreover, it is the last week of February, leaving us with only around 50 days for the highly anticipated Bitcoin halving, which is seen as a catalyst to lead the crypto markets rally. 

Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $51,380, down 0.5% over the past 24 hours, as reported by Benzinga Pro.

Read Next: Retail Investors Dip Their Toes Back Into Crypto, But Bull Run Excitement Wanes (CORRECTED)

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