Day Outlook: Just Before CPI: Bitcoin 61 Thousand Dollars

CoinDesk 20 Index: 1,887.55 -1.61%

Bitcoin (BTC): $61,068.94 -1.66%

Ether (ETH): $2,398.48 -1.49%

S&P 500: 5,792.04 +0.71%

Gold: $2,617.57 +0.35%

Nikkei 225: 39,380.89 +0.26%

Bitcoin is trading 1.6 percent lower than in the last 24 hours, despite recovering to $61,000 after falling as low as $60,300 late yesterday. The overall crypto market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index, is also losing 2%. Attention turned to the September CPI report, which will be released from the USA later today and is expected to show a 0.1% monthly increase and a 2.3% annual increase. If data comes in higher than expected, calls to halt interest rate cuts could grow stronger, putting pressure on risk assets such as cryptocurrencies.

Minutes of the September Fed meeting released yesterday showed policymakers were divided on how aggressive the central bank should be. While “a significant majority of participants” supported lowering the interest rate by half a point, some expressed concerns that this rate was too high, the minutes said. “Crypto sentiment has returned to the fear zone (39), strengthening the contrast with 72 (greed) in equities,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, a senior analyst at FxPro. “This dynamic can easily be explained by the appreciation of the dollar and increased interest in bonds, which reduces institutional interest in bitcoin.” The dollar index (DXY) rose to 102.97, the highest level since Aug. 16, bringing its cumulative gain to 2.7 percent since 100.18 on Sept. 30, according to data platform TradingView.

U.S. ether ETFs recorded zero inflows in both directions yesterday, according to data compiled by SoSoValue. Funds did not operate for the second time this week. This left net outflows in ether ETFs since their launch at $562 million, unlike their bitcoin equivalents, which have attracted net inflows of about $19 billion since January. Bitcoin ETFs saw outflows of over $30.5 million yesterday. Nine of the 11 funds recorded zero money flows in either direction.

Bitcoin’s seven-day options curve has fallen to a four-week low of -8.5%. Negative pressure indicates a bias for protective put options, reflecting fears about downside price risks.