Investing.com-- Bitcoin price edged higher on Wednesday despite key U.S. inflation data that came in hotter-than-expected, resulting in treasury yields rising.
Despite initially declining following the U.S inflation data, the Bitcoin price managed to regain its initial losses and more.
Bitcoin is currently up 2.08% in the last 24 hours to $69,330.3 by 13:56 ET (18:56 GMT), despite weakness in other U.S. dollar pairs.
Earlier in the day, a surge in commodity prices- specifically oil and metals- drove focus away from the token, as markets bet that improving global economic conditions in the coming months will support commodity demand.
Crypto prices today: CPI awaited for more rate cues
Focus was now squarely on U.S. consumer price index data due later on Wednesday, which showed the month-on-month overall consumer price index rose by 0.4% in March, staying at the 0.4% uptick seen last month, above the 0.3% expected. The core gauge also came in at 0.4%, above February's 0.3% growth.
The trend gives the Federal Reserve less impetus to begin cutting interest rates- a scenario that bodes poorly for speculative assets such as Bitcoin. The token, along with the broader crypto market, tend to thrive in a low-rate, high-liquidity environment.
Earlier in the session, world no.2 crypto Ethereum fell, alongside XRP and Solana. However, they are all up in the last 24 hours.
Beyond the inflation data, the minutes of the Fed’s March meeting are also on tap. While the Fed did say it will cut rates by 75 basis points, a slew of officials questioned this outlook after the meeting, especially in the face of sticky inflation.
Bitcoin halving remains in focus
The attention now turns to the halving event, which is set to happen around April 20.
The event, which will take place with the generation of block no. 840,000 on the Bitcoin blockchain, will see the rate at which new Bitcoin is mined slashed in half.
The event is expected to further the narrative that the relative scarcity of Bitcoin will push up its price.
Bitcoin had surged to a record high of over $73,000 earlier in 2023, boosted chiefly by increased capital flows after the U.S. approval of spot exchange-traded funds.
But recent data showed that these capital flows were slowing, raising some doubts over just how much momentum Bitcoin still retained.