Aug. 15, 2024

CoinDesk 20 Index: 1,888  −3.6% 
Bitcoin (BTC): $58,764  −3.8% 
Ether (ETC): $2,639  −3.7% 
S&P 500: 5,455.21  +0.4% 
Gold: $2,496  +2.3% 
Nikkei 225: 36,726.64  +0.78% 

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Bitcoin has fallen over 4.5% to under $58,500 in the last 24 hours, having dropped as low as $57,750. BTC losses led drops across major tokens, with ETH also down over 4.5% and SOL falling just under 4%. The broad-based CoinDesk 20, a liquid index tracking the largest tokens by capitalization, has lost 3.5%. Much of the drop came after U.S. July consumer price index (CPI) figures were released late Wednesday. The CPI increased by 2.9% year-on-year, as expected, the first time it has risen less than 3% since 2021.

Some traders expect bitcoin to drop as low as $55,000 in the near term, which could spell further losses for other major tokens. Crypto prices have been "highly sensitive" to U.S. economic data in recent months as investors prefer stability over riskier assets, according to K33 Research. “A new sell-off momentum is still the prevailing scenario, with a potential pullback to $55K,” Alex Kuptsikevich, the FxPro senior market analyst, shared in a Thursday note. “Data supporting the Fed's imminent easing of monetary policy may encourage the bulls to overcome the short-term downtrend and give the green light to rise to $66K.”

U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $81 million in net outflows on Wednesday, ending a two-day positive streak. Grayscale’s GBTC registered $56 million in outflows, the most among counterparts, with Fidelity’s FBTC recording $18 million in outflows. Ark Invest’s ARKB and Bitwise’s BITB lost $6.7 million and $5.7 million respectively. Franklin Templeton’s EZBC and BlackRock’s IBIT were the only products with net inflows, adding a cumulative $6 million. Ether ETFs fared better, with $10 million in net inflows, extending a streak to three days. BlackRock’s ETHA recorded $16 million in inflows, while Grayscale’s ETHE lost $16 million. Grayscale’s mini Ether trust ETH, Fidelity’s FETH and Bitwise’s ETHW took on a cumulative $11 million inflows.

Bitcoin mining was slightly less profitable in July than the previous month as the price of the world's largest cryptocurrency fell over 6% while the network hashrate remained stable, investment bank Jefferies said in a research report on Thursday.

Hashrate is a proxy for competition in the industry and mining difficulty.

The bank cut its Marathon Digital price target to $17 from $22 while maintaining a hold rating on the shares. MARA fell 0.7% to around $15 in pre-market trading.

U.S.-listed mining companies produced a larger share of bitcoin in July than June, accounting for 21.1% of the total network versus 20.7% in May, the report said. August will be a more difficult month for the miners as the price of bitcoin has dropped about 5% while the network hashrate has started to grow again, the report added.

Their market share rose as "public players brought on new capacity faster than the network hashrate increased," analysts Jonathan Petersen and Joe Dickstein wrote.