The bitcoin price is struggling to stay above the $61,000 mark, despite a rally in European equity indices, as the Bank of England held rates steady and hinted at a possible rate cut in the summer.

Major European and UK equity indices were green on Thursday. In London, the FTSE 100 posted a 22.19-point increase to 8,393.39 in mid-day trading, a fresh all-time high. The regional Stoxx 600 index traded up in Europe, gaining 0.15% in the day, to 516.54.

On Thursday, the BoE announced it would keep interest rates steady at 5.25% for the sixth time in a row and said it would continue its "wait and see" approach until it feels that the conditions necessary to cut the base rate are met.

However, the central bank's governor, Andrew Bailey, hailed "encouraging news" on inflation and hinted it could cut rates as soon as next month if inflation falls in line with its forecasts. "We've had encouraging news on inflation and we think it will fall close to our 2% target in the next couple of months. We need to see more evidence that inflation will stay low before we can cut interest rates. I'm optimistic that things are moving in the right direction," Bailey said.

However, Interactive Investor analyst Myron Jobson stressed that even if the BoE cuts interest rates in the summer, a higher-for-longer interest rate macro environment will not suddenly disappear. "Interest rates could remain higher for the next decade than they were in the decade after the 2008 financial crisis," Jobson said in an email sent to The Block.

The bitcoin price slipped by over 1% in the past 24 hours and was changing hands for $61,411 at 9:08 a.m. ET., according to The Block's Price Pages.