Bitcoin Briefly Tops $84K After CPI Report, But Rally Quickly Fizzles
Bitcoin made a short-lived jump above $84,000 following the release of better-than-expected U.S. inflation data, but gains were quickly erased as the market settled back into a neutral stance.
As of now, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $82,800, down 0.5% in the past 24 hours. The CoinDesk 20 Index, which tracks the top 20 cryptocurrencies excluding exchange tokens, stablecoins, and meme coins, has dipped 0.8% over the same period.
Dragging down the broader index is ether (ETH), which has been the worst-performing asset of the day, falling 3.5% to around $1,880. The ETH/BTC ratio has dropped to 0.022, a level not seen since April 2020, just before the DeFi boom that brought projects like Uniswap and MakerDAO into focus. Since its all-time high in November 2021, the ETH/BTC ratio has plummeted 67%.
“While today’s lower-than-expected CPI should be bullish as it signals faster rate cuts, crypto markets have remained muted,” said Dr. Youwei Yang, Chief Economist at BIT Mining, in an email to CoinDesk. “Weeks of market fear require more than a single positive data point to restore confidence.”
“The bigger concern,” Yang continued, “is Trump’s aggressive tariffs, which could keep inflation elevated while simultaneously hurting financial markets. This puts the Federal Reserve in a tough position—inflationary pressures from tariffs make rate cuts riskier, but economic downturns and job losses could force the Fed’s hand.”
Market expectations currently point to the Federal Reserve resuming rate cuts as early as May or June, with up to 100 basis points of cuts possible by October.
Meanwhile, U.S. equities saw a modest rebound on Wednesday after suffering a 10% decline in recent weeks. The Nasdaq gained 1.2%, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.5% by the close of trading.
