Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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BTC touched the $100k level a few hours ago, adding over 2.5% to its value.
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The rally comes as U.S. inflation slows down following the latest CPI figures.
BTC Hits $100k, XRP Trades Above $3
The cryptocurrency market has been rallying since Monday’s dip and Bitcoin has now reclaimed a key structural level. The leading cryptocurrency by market cap added roughly 3% to its value to hit the $100k mark on Wednesday.
BTC has slightly cooled and now trades at $99,481 per coin. The positive performance follows the latest CPI figures, which point to cooling inflation, bolstering market sentiment, and renewing optimism for risk assets.
The CPI remained steady at 2.9% year over year, while the core CPI eased to 3.2%. Analysts believe that the latest inflation figures set the stage for a dovish pivot by the Federal Reserve.
The decline of the U.S. year-over-year core CPI rate from November's 3.3% is the first dip since July 2024. This inflation figure has reignited speculations about potential rate cuts in 2025.
The possibility of a Fed rate cut later this year has created a more favorable environment for Bitcoin and other risk-sensitive assets.
XRP Leads the Altcoins Charge
Bitcoin rallying has also seen altcoins perform excellently over the last 24 hours. Ripple’s XRP is the best performer among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, up nearly 8%.
At press time, XRP is trading at $3.06 and has hit a market cap of over $175 billion. Solana’s SOL is also up 7% in the last 24 hours, allowing it to cross the $200 mark for the first time in nearly ten days.
Tron’s TRX maintains its position as the tenth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap after adding 6% to its value. Cardano’s ADA is up 3.5%, while Dogecoin added roughly 5% to its value.
Binance’s BNB token is the worst performer among the top 10 cryptocurrencies, up only 1.5%. With Bitcoin hitting the $100k mark, the total cryptocurrency market cap is now approaching $3.5 trillion.
