Mining difficulty passes 50 trillion — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week in an altogether different mood as the weekly candle close brings a move higher.

The largest cryptocurrency, still stuck in a narrow range, is at last showing signs of life after several spikes to two-month lows.

With volatility back in play, traders nonetheless remain conflicted — can short-timeframe strength lead to an overall trend breakout?

Opinions differ as May comes to an end, and brings with it a macroeconomic showdown, which is already making itself felt — the United States debt ceiling deal.

With an agreement to raise the ceiling and avoid a U.S. government default almost here, risk assets may see relief across the board. Since stock markets are closed until May 30, however, it will be a game of “wait and see” for Bitcoin traders to start the week.

BItcoin itself, of course, is always open, and the debt ceiling appears to have formed an impetus for optimism despite representing little in terms of macroeconomic policy trends.

With that, the conversation within crypto is all about what happens next.

Cointelegraph takes a look at these and some other important factors to consider when it comes to BTC price action in the coming days.

Debt ceiling deal nears Congress

After several weeks of drama, the Biden administration has formed and presented a solution to the U.S. debt ceiling debacle and presented it to Congress.

While it remains unknown whether it will pass, bets are already frontrunning the outcome.

“I think it is virtually certain that it will be passed,” Jeremy Siegel, professor of finance at the University of Pennsylvania, told CNBC, summarizing a popular theory.

A true doom scenario, others have pointed out, is unlikely, as the deal stalling at this point does not immediately open the U.S. to a default scenario.

“The coming week will still bring uncertainty around the debt ceiling as the agreement makes its way through Congress,” trading firm Mosaic Asset continued in the latest edition of its newsletter series, “The Market Mosaic.”

“We’ll also get an updated report from the ISM on manufacturing sector activity, plus the May jobs report. Regardless of those headlines, I’m watching the action in the average stock and cyclical sectors most closely.”

News of the deal itself, meanwhile, worked instant magic on a lackluster BTC/USD, which saw some classic end-of-week volatility to briefly hit $28,450 overnight.

Currently trading at just below $28,000, the pair has managed to improve its outlook,…