Bitcoin Trudges Below $69,000 As Traders Nervously Await U.S. Inflation Data

Bitcoin is down as investor concerns about the April 10 pivotal Consumer Price Index (CPI) report and the state of the U.S. economy lead to derisking strategies.

The price of Bitcoin slipped below $69,000 today after soaring above $72,000 earlier this week as traders wait to see how the Federal Reserve will proceed with interest rates.

Bitcoin Retreats From $72,600

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics will release a higher-than-expected March 2024 Consumer Price Index data later today. Economists predict that inflation grew at an annual pace of 3.4% in March, which would be a faster pace than the 3.2% jump recorded in February. 

Investors will be closely watching the CPI reading to determine whether the Federal Reserve is succeeding in fighting inflation. In other words, the CPI print could significantly impact the Federal Reserve’s policy, especially concerning interest rates.

At press time, Bitcoin is trading for below $69,000 after losing 3.7% in the past day and failing to maintain prices over $72,600 on April 8. Ether (ETH) — the second-largest crypto — has shed 3.2% of its value over the past 24 hours. ETH is currently priced at $3,516, according to data from CoinGecko.

Is The Bitcoin Bull Run Over?

Bitcoin has jumped by over 55% since the beginning of this year, climbing from around $44,165 to its current price of $68,232 at the time of publication.

Bitcoin is now 9 days away from its fourth halving event, which will see the reward paid to miners reduced from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC on April 20. And the OG crypto has already set a new all-time high price above $73K well before the block subsidy halving event.

While the halving is usually very bullish for BTC, Arthur Hayes, the founder of BitMEX and current Chief Investment Officer at Maelstrom thinks Bitcoin and crypto prices, in general, will face massive selling pressure following the halving. Hayes argued in a recent blog post that the current macro setup is favorable for traders looking to short BTC as the supposedly bullish impact of halving is already “well entrenched”.

“Given that the halving occurs at a time when dollar liquidity is tighter than usual, it will add propellant to a raging firesale of crypto assets. The timing of the halving adds further weight to my decision to abstain from trading until May,” Hayes explained.

Meanwhile, market participants will be closely monitoring the release of the March CPI data today. It could give Bitcoin the much-needed fuel to smash its current resistance and potentially hit a new record high above $220,000 before the halving arrives.