Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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Bitcoin rallied above the $69k level on Wednesday after the CPI report came out lower than expected.
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However, it has since dropped to the $67k region once again after the Fed revealed that it only sees one rate cut this year.
BTC Rallies and Dips on CPI and FOMC News
Bitcoin, the world’s leading cryptocurrency by market cap, had a rollercoaster performance over the last 24 hours. The CPI report and the FOMC meeting affected Bitcoin’s performance in both extremes.
BTC was trading around the $67k region on Wednesday prior to the CPI report. However, the e U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) was flat in May, beating economist forecasts for a 0.1% rise and down from 0.3% in April.
The favorable CPI report allowed Bitcoin’s price to surge by more than 2% and top the $69k mark for the first time in nearly a week. Year-to-year (YoY), CPI stood at 3.3%, lower than last month’s 3.4% and analysts' forecasts.
Meanwhile, the core CPI, which excludes food and energy costs, increased to 0.2% in May, better than the expected 0.3%. Finally, core CPI rose 3.4% year-over-year, lower than the expected 3.5% and April's 3.6%.
However, Bitcoin’s rally was short-lived as bears regained control following the FOMC meeting. The Federal Reserve pointed out that there is progress towards returning to 2% inflation. As such, the apex bank held its benchmark fed funds rate range at 5.25%-5.50%. It also revealed that there could be just one 25 basis point rate cut this year.
In its policy statement, the FOMC said,
"In recent months, there has been modest further progress toward the Committee's 2 percent inflation objective."
The FOMC news saw Bitcoin give up its earlier gains and drop to the $67k region. At press time, BTC is trading at $67,465, down by less than 1% in the last 24 hours.
While Bitcoin experienced mixed performances in the last 24 hours, some altcoins recorded gains. Solana is up by more than 1% and is now trading at $152.45. Meanwhile, TON is the best performer amongst the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, adding 8% to its value over the last 24 hours.
