In the early hours of January 12, Bitcoin rose above $18,000 for the first time since mid-December 2022. In the last 24 hours the cryptocurrency gained 4%, according to CoinGecko.
At the time of writing, the asset traded near $18,100. The price rise was accompanied by a surge in trading volume.
The flagship asset typically pulled the rest of the market along — all assets in the top 10 by market cap were in the green. The strongest movers were Ethereum (+4.9%) and Cardano (+3.5%).
According to Coinglass, over the past 24 hours liquidations on the futures market affected positions totaling more than $245 million. Of these, nearly $112 million were tied to Ethereum-based contracts (~$77 million — Bitcoin derivatives).
The rise in the price of the leading cryptocurrency came amid expectations of a slowdown in inflation in the United States. On January 12 at 15:30 (Kyiv)/16:30 (Moscow time) the BLS will publish the value of the consumer price index (consumer price index, CPI).
According to CNBC, the consensus among analysts is for the CPI to slow to 6.5% year over year (7.1% in November). In experts’ view, the core inflation rate will be 5.7% (6% a month earlier).
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released inflation data in the United States. As expected, the CPI for December stood at 6.5%. The core inflation rate fell to 5.7%.
The American stock market also reacted positively to the upcoming CPI release. At the end of the trading session on January 11, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%, the S&P 500 gained 1.28%, and the NASDAQ Composite Index rose 1.76%.
Stocks rose Wednesday as investors grew increasingly confident that Thursday’s consumer price index will show cooling inflation.
The Dow rose 0.80%.
The S&P 500 popped 1.28%.
The Nasdaq surged 1.76%. https://t.co/M9yITEYf4R pic.twitter.com/nABPAu5zfm— CNBC (@CNBC) January 11, 2023
Some cryptocurrency analysts noted that the current price level is extremely important for Bitcoin. For example, trader going by the alias AlphaBTC said that if the asset remains above $18,000, there is a possibility of a rise to $20,000. Otherwise the quotes could retreat to $15,000.
He added that the scenario would largely depend on the inflation data in the United States.
Critical level for #Bitcoin, break here and accept back in the Q4 2022 range and the mid 20k is a good possibility.
Reject hard and we are likely to see 15K’s or lower.
All hinges on CPI data later today. pic.twitter.com/hqmXGFRAEo— AlphaBTC (@mark_cullen) January 12, 2023
Earlier this month, analysts at Nansen said that the base scenario for 2023 is a recession in the United States and a new wave of stock-market sell-offs. In these conditions cryptocurrencies would be subject to a negative revaluation.
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