Major cryptocurrencies on Thursday experienced mixed trading, with data from macro and on-chain whale movement casting uncertainty over the outlook for the leading cryptocurrency and the broader market.
What Happened: Data released by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday revealed a 0.6% increase in the producer price index last month.
This crucial inflation indicator revealed that prices surged beyond expectations in February. Traders have interpreted this data as a potential indication that the Federal Reserve might refrain from cutting interest rates in May. As a result, there was a significant sell-off of cryptocurrency in response to this development.
Grayscale reportedly shifted around $400 million in Bitcoin to its custodian, Coinbase, as per Arkham Intelligence data today. In January, the fund manager offloaded a significant amount of BTC, moving $2.2 billion in a matter of days to the exchange, causing downward pressure on the price.
In the past 24 hours, CoinGlass data reveals that over 161,570 traders liquidated their positions worth $547.19 million. The largest single liquidation order, valued at $13.30 million, took place on OKX – BTC-USDT-SWAP. Moreover, over $135 million worth of longs in BTC and over $80 million in ETH longs have been liquidated.
Top Gainer (24 Hour)
The global cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.77 trillion, showing a 0.11% increase in the past 24 hours.
The 30-stock Dow retreated by 137.66 points, or 0.35%, concluding at 38,905.66. The Nasdaq Composite experienced a 0.3% decrease, ending at 16,128.53, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.29%, finishing the session at 5,150.48.
In February, the producer price index, which measures wholesale inflation, rose by 0.6%. When excluding food and energy prices, the core PPI showed a 0.3% increase. This exceeded the expectations of economists polled by Dow Jones, who had predicted a 0.3% gain for headline PPI and a 0.2% increase for the core reading.
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Analyst Notes: Cryptocurrency analyst Michael Van de Poppe said, "The Spot #Bitcoin ETFs have proven that Bitcoin isn’t going away and is a legitimate asset, with a significant use case of ‘Hard Money’. I think that the inflow will only increase over the coming years. Bitcoin to $500K."
Data tracked by BitMEX Research reveals a significant surge in spot Bitcoin ETFs since launch. In total, the inflows surpassed the $4 billion mark on Tuesday.
Pseudonymous crypto analyst Rekt Capital said, "Whenever Bitcoin breaks its old All Time High, price doesn't just enter an uninterrupted uptrend. Historically, $BTC has experienced lots of upside & downside volatility around old ATHs. But once that volatility resolves itself… Price Discovery awaits."
Ali Martinez, an on-chain analyst, said that the short-term realized Profit/Loss Margin indicator reveals that short-term Bitcoin holders are currently sitting on profits of 70% in their holdings. "This level of unrealized BTC profits is the highest in the past three years!"
Read Next: Jim Cramer Advises Against Using Binance, Provokes Strong Reactions From Twitter Users
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