The price of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), which had already been showing declines in recent days, fell further after news from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) that the Consumer Price Index registered a 0,4% increase last month.
Data released by the BLS highlighted that inflation presented in March remained practically unchanged compared to the previous month and is still at 3,5%.
“The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0,4% in March on a seasonally adjusted basis, the same increase as in February, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In the last 12 months, the index of all items increased by 3,5% before seasonal adjustment”, highlighted the report.
At the time of publication, the Bitcoin price it was quoted at US$68.208,20, down 3.2% in the last 24 hours. Ethereum, in turn, was trading at US$3.456,15 with a drop of 4.3% in the same period. The two largest cryptocurrencies by capitalization account for approximately 65% of the $2,7 trillion global market capitalization.
In their respective monthly developments, the price of Bitcoin and Ethereum cryptocurrencies showed significant retractions given the stagnation and drops faced by most cryptocurrencies in recent days. Bitcoin fell 4.2% and Ethereum 13.6% in the last 30 days.
It is worth remembering that, at the end of February, the US stock market witnessed an upbeat opening. Investors, with their attention focused on the most recent inflation data, were looking for signs that could indicate the pace of possible interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Josh Schafer, a financial analyst, highlighted that the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, an inflation indicator that receives special attention from the Fed, showed signs of cooling in January. With annual growth of 2,4% in January, there was a reduction in relation to the 2,6% observed in the previous month.
