Investing.com– Bitcoin price rose on Wednesday, buoyed by growing expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts as weak economic readings continued to trickle in, which also helped the token break a recent trading range. 

This trend also buoyed broader crypto prices, as capital flows into the space picked up over the past month. The launch of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in Australia also pointed to more capital inflows in the near-term.

A decline in the this week also aided crypto markets. 

rose 2.7% in the past 24 hours to $70,917.7 by 01:43 ET (05:43 GMT). 

Bitcoin breaks out of trading range, close to record highs

The world’s biggest cryptocurrency broke out of a $60,000 to $70,000 trading range seen since mid-March, and was now trading about $3,000 away from a new record high. 

A mix of profit-taking, concerns over high interest rates and cooling optimism over Bitcoin ETFs had kept Bitcoin in a trading range after the token surged to record highs in early-March. 

But interest in crypto now appeared to be picking up, especially with the prospect of lower interest rates this year.

Risk-heavy assets such as crypto usually benefit from lower interest rates, given that increased liquidity makes for more speculative trading. 

Crypto price today: altcoins advance with rate cues in progress 

Broader altcoin prices also advanced on Wednesday, as weak U.S. economic data spruced up expectations of eventual interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

World no. 2 token rose 0.7%, while , and rose between 0.9% and 5%. 

Among meme tokens, surged 8%, while added 3.1%. 

Expectations of a rate cut in September rose after softer-than-expected data on Tuesday.

The reading was preceded by weak data, as well as a downward revision in U.S. for the first quarter.

But while the readings ramped up bets on a September rate cut, focus this week was still on upcoming data for more definitive cues on the labor market and interest rates.