The cryptocurrency market remained largely unchanged today, as a brief surge following favorable U.S. inflation figures quickly lost momentum.
Bitcoin (BTC) is currently priced at $82,800, reflecting a decline of 0.5% over the past 24 hours. The CoinDesk 20 index, which tracks the top 20 cryptocurrencies excluding exchange tokens, stablecoins, and memecoins, has fallen by 0.8% in the same timeframe.
Leading the decline in this broader index was ether (ETH), which is down 3.5% to around $1,880. The ETH/BTC ratio now stands at 0.022, matching the level observed in April 2020, just prior to the DeFi boom that highlighted projects like Uniswap and MakerDao. Notably, this ratio has plummeted a staggering 67% since reaching its peak in November 2021.
Read more: Inflation Eases as U.S. CPI Decreases to Below Expected 2.8% in February
“The lower-than-anticipated CPI figures should typically be bullish, indicating quicker rate cuts ahead, yet the crypto market hasn’t shown a strong reaction,” stated Dr. Youwei Yang, Chief Economist at BIT Mining, in an email. “Extended periods of market anxiety require more than just one positive data point to restore confidence.”
Yang continued, “The fundamental concern lies with Trump’s aggressive tariffs, which could contribute to persistent inflation while simultaneously destabilizing the markets. This creates a challenging situation for the Fed: high inflation from tariffs complicates the possibility of rate cuts, while market downturns and job losses exert pressure to cut rates sooner. Acting prematurely could trigger renewed inflation, complicating future policy decisions.”
The market currently anticipates that the Federal Reserve may initiate rate cuts as soon as May or June, potentially amounting to as much as 100 basis points by October.
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks experienced a modest recovery after a nearly 10% drop over recent weeks. The Nasdaq posted a 1.2% increase, while the S&P 500 saw a gain of 0.5%.