Crypto slides to begin August trading, nearly erasing its July gain

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Cryptocurrencies slid on the first day of August, after a batch of economic data heightened investor worries about the economy, driving them to move out of risk assets including crypto.

The price of bitcoin was last lower by more than 3.7% at $63,144.00, according to Coin Metrics. Ether fell 5% to $3,099.10.

Crypto stocks Coinbase and MicroStrategy were down by 5% and 6%, respectively. Marathon Digital tumbled 7% and Riot Platforms lost 5.5%.

Disappointing data out Thursday fueled investor worries that the U.S. economy could be at risk of a recession – a day after the Federal Reserve voted to keep interest rates unchanged: July manufacturing activity fell 1.7 percentage point from June, first-time filings for unemployment insurance increased and were above the estimate, and announced layoffs last month were the highest for July in more than two decades. 

Bitcoin is poised for choppy trading in August, a seasonally sluggish month for the cryptocurrency as well as risk assets more broadly. Thursday's losses erased most of its 5.04% gain for July.

The flagship cryptocurrency has traded in a range between $55,000 and $70,000 since March, when it notched an all-time high above $73,000. It has struggled to hold above that ceiling since.

Bitcoin is still up more than 48% for the year. Many investors expect it to reset its all-time high in the second half.

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