After the most recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) report revealed a little slowing in inflation, but not as much as economists had anticipated, Bitcoin (BTC) lingered dangerously around $30,000 on Wednesday afternoon.
According to data from CoinDesk, the top cryptocurrency by market cap most recently traded at $30,030, down a little fraction of a percentage point over the previous 24 hours. BTC’s price surged as high as $30,548 earlier on Wednesday after the generally regarded Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation gauge revealed that the CPI increased by 0.1% in March, less quickly than the 0.2% and 0.4% forecasts made by economists for the month and February, respectively. The CPI was at 5% annually, up from 6% in February, and beyond forecasts of 5.2%.
Following the article, BTC’s profit-taking “intensifies,” according to Edward In a report on Wednesday, Moya, a senior market analyst at the foreign exchange company Oanda, wrote.
According to Moya, the momentum rally for bitcoin “seems to be over for the time being.” “The hedge against inflation and/or a break in its correlation with stocks could wear off for a while.” He continued by saying that BTC “clearly needs a robust catalyst to keep the rally going” and that it “seems poised to consolidate.”
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, Ether (ETH), recently traded at $1,914, up 0.3% from Tuesday at the same time. Ethereum’s Shanghai (or Shapella) upgrade, which is scheduled to go live at 18:27 ET (22:27 UTC), is being closely watched by validators and market observers.Crypto analysts and traders are divided on the impact of the event on the market, with some expecting ETH selling pressure to push the token’s price lower, while others anticipate little impact on the price.
“While there are many short-term concerns about what happens once staked ETH is unlocked, in the long-term the ability to hop in and out at will opens the doors for new entrants who may have balked at locking their funds indefinitely Jim Myers, founder and chief technology officer of blockchain analytics platform Flipside Crypto, told CoinDesk in an email.
BTC and ETH are up more than 6% and 4%, respectively, over the past seven days. The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI), which measures the overall performance of the crypto market, is down 0.2% on the day but is up 2.2% over the past seven days.
Stock markets were mixed on Wednesday afternoon. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) were recently up 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was nearly flat.
