Bitcoin Price Briefly Falls Below $68K Following Hotter than Expected US CPI, Raising Concerns for Local Top

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On Wednesday, Bitcoin (BTC) dipped below $68,000 for a brief moment, touching a 24-hour low of approximately $67,568. However, during the New York trading session, BTC bounced back and was trading around $68,668. The cryptocurrency market has seen increased volatility lately, resulting in over $253 million in liquidations. Most of this amount, around $186 million, was from long traders.

Possible Delay of US Rate Cuts

The unexpected drop in cryptocurrency values, including gold, resulted from significant news releases by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics regarding the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Significantly, the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed larger-than-anticipated increases for both the monthly and annual adjustments. Consequently, speculation about an interest rate reduction by June has been dashed.

In addition, evidence suggests that the Fed’s efforts to control inflation may not be completely successful yet. Previously, Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, hinted that interest rate reductions could start by June if the inflation trend continued to decrease.

When professors like Karen Dynan at Harvard University observe consistent monthly inflation without improvement and even an uptick when comparing the previous six months, they believe this trend makes the Federal Reserve hesitant. A shift in perspective has taken place.

High Bitcoin Demand Amid Upcoming Halving

Today, as Coinspeaker announced earlier, the increased desire for Bitcoin has caused its price to rise prior to the halving event. Significantly, Chinese institutional investors have been attempting to acquire Bitcoin through applications for spot BTC ETFs in Hong Kong. With a strong likelihood of approval for these ETFs imminent, the disproportionate demand and limited supply will continue to drive up prices.

It’s worth noting that the trading volume for U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs over the past few months has been comparable to the volumes recorded during the 2020-2021 bull market. As we approach the fourth Bitcoin halving, which is due in just under two weeks, investors can expect heightened volatility in Bitcoin’s price. However, some experts caution that this event could result in a sell-the-news reaction.

The number of transactions in the Bitcoin market has significantly increased since the debut of US Spot ETFs in early January 2024. With the market reaching an all-time high of $73,000 around mid-March, daily trading volumes hit a record high of approximately $14.1 billion.

This magnitude of spot trade volume is equivalent to the height of the…

— glassnode (@glassnode) April 10, 2024

Midterm BTC Price Expectations

The price of Bitcoin has found it difficult to climb above its previous record high of approximately $74,000 in the recent past. As per an evaluation by Bitcoin expert Peter Brandt based on technical analysis, there’s a possibility that Bitcoin has already peaked at a local level, despite the overall trend remaining bullish.

This same basic pattern has been common in past bull markets in Bitcoin

— Peter Brandt (@PeterLBrandt) April 9, 2024

If the price of Bitcoin falls further against the US dollar in the near future, it may find a stable base between $60,000 and $61,000. However, the current pessimistic outlook for Bitcoin’s price could be disproved if the cryptocurrency consistently ends its trading periods above $72,000 in the upcoming days.

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2024-04-10 20:21