Slowing US inflation data inspires hope for a crypto price rally
Bitcoin plummeted in Asia on Friday morning, falling below the $29,500 level. Ether was also slightly down as the other top 10 non-stablecoins traded mixed. Market experts expect bitcoin and ether to remain stable in the short-term ahead of a potential recovery supported by an easing in macroeconomic conditions. The Forkast 500 NFT index rose while US core inflation data came in lower than expected. This fueled bets that the Federal Reserve will pause rate hikes, which would boost global equity markets.
Crypto stable
Bitcoin is down 0.39% to $29,439.41 in the last 24 hours as of 6:30 a.m. in Hong Kong, according to data from CoinMarketCap, but is up 0.95% this week. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap hovered around $29,500 after hitting an overnight high of $29,688.
Ether was also down slightly, down 0.09% to $1,851.14, but was up 1.08% weekly.
“As we process the CPI numbers, the price of BTC and ETH has barely changed,” said Lucy Hu, senior trader at Hong Kong-based digital asset management platform Metalpha. “We expect the major pairs BTC and ETH to continue trading in a tight range and likely to show an uptrend.”
The US Consumer Price Index (CPI), released Thursday by the Department of Labor, rose 0.2% in July, lifting the inflation indicator to 3.2%. That’s less than the 3.3% expected by Reuters.
“The CPI headline matters and signals that we are most likely at the bottom of the Fed’s rate hike curve,” said Michaël van de Poppe, CEO of Amsterdam-based crypto trading firm MN Trading.
“Crypto-natives are always eager for this event to get forecasts and with the forecasts coming out lower than expected, it is therefore likely that the price will start to increase,” van de Poppe said. He added that investors should now check the US Producer Price Index data released on Friday for another key gauge of wholesale inflation.
Analysts have also circled August 13 — the next deadline for ARK Investment Management’s spot bitcoin exchange-traded (ETF) fund application in the US — as another key date on the market calendar.
ARK first filed the request in April and then submitted an additional amendment in July.
Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest, told Bloomberg Monday that the U.S. SEC is likely to approve multiple spot crypto ETF applications at once if it decides to give them the green light.
The other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies traded mixed on Friday. Solana led the gainers, gaining 1.59% to $24.70 for a bullish 9.56% weekly gain. Tron is also up 1.15% to $0.07717 and is up 0.52% over the past seven days.
Total crypto market cap fell 0.24% to $1.17 trillion over the past 24 hours, while trading volume also fell 26.24% to $26.47 billion.
