Bitcoin Drops to $58K After U.S. CPI Print, BTC ETFs Record $81M Outflow
BY Coindesk | ECONOMIC | 08/15/24 03:39 AM EDT- Bitcoin fell over 4% to around $58,000, leading to a broader market drop where other major cryptocurrencies like Ether, Solana, Cardano, BNB Chain, and XRP fared slightly better, with losses ranging from 2.5% to 3.8%.
- The decline came after by the release of U.S. CPI data, despite positive stock market reactions. U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs saw net outflows, with Grayscale's GBTC being the most affected, while Ether ETFs saw continued inflows, with BlackRock's
(BLK) ETHA notably gaining.
Bitcoin {{BTC}} slipped more than 4% in the past 24 hours to trade near the $58,000 level in Asian afternoon hours Thursday, retracing nearly all gains from the past week.
BTC led losses as the slide led to a drop across major tokens. Ether {{ETH}} fell 3.8%, while Solana?s {{SOL}}, Cardano?s {{ADA}}, BNB Chain?s {{BNB}} and Ripple's XRP{{(XRP}} dropped a smaller 2.5%. The broad-based CoinDesk 20, a liquid fund tracking the largest tokens by capitalization, lost 3.5%.
Much of the drop came after the latest July U.S. consumer price index (CPI) figures were released late on Wednesday. July's CPI increased by 2.9% year-on-year, as expected, marking the first time since 2021 that it has fallen below 3%.
Despite the NASDAQ and S&P 500 reversing an early sell-off and ending the day in the green, BTC continued its sell-off after the CPI print. Crypto
As such, some traders expect BTC prices to drop to as low as $55,000 in the near term, before a leg up, which could spell further losses for major tokens.
?A new sell-off momentum is still the prevailing scenario, with a potential pullback to $55K,? Alex Kuptsikevich, the FxPro senior market analyst, shared in a Thursday note. ?Data supporting the Fed's imminent easing of monetary policy may encourage the bulls to overcome the short-term downtrend and give the green light to rise to $66K.?
Elsewhere, U.S.-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded $81 million in net outflows on Wednesday, ending a two-day positive streak. Grayscale?s GBTC registered $56 million in outflows, the most among counterparts, with Fidelity?s FBTC recording $18 million in outflows. Ark Invest?s ARKB and Bitwise?s BITB lost $6.7 million and $5.7 million respectively.
Franklin Templeton?s EZBC and BlackRock?s IBIT were the only products with net inflows of a cumulative $6 million.
Ether ETFs fared better with $10 million in net inflows, extending a streak to three days. BlackRock?s ETHA recorded $16 million in inflows, while Grayscale?s ETHE lost $16 million. Grayscale?s mini Ether trust ETH, Fidelity?s FETH and Bitwise?s ETHW took on a cumulative $11 million inflows.