June 12, 2024

Bitcoin hasstabilized following its plunge below $67,000 on Tuesday, with traders awaiting the latest key macroeconomic reports from the U.S. BTC nudged upward toward $68,000 during the late European morning, an increase of 1.3% in the last 24 hours. Ether meanwhile rose around 0.2% to sit just under $3,550. The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), which measures the broader digital asset market, is about 0.25% higher in the last 24 hours. Attention will be on the CPI data, due today, from the U.S. and the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which will indicate the Fed's monetary policy.

Bitcoin ETFsrecorded a second straight day of outflows on Tuesday, with $200 million exiting the 11 spot products in the U.S., the highest since May 1. Grayscale's GBTC, as it often is, was the worst affected, with outflows of $120 million. ARK 21Shares' ARKB, Bitwise's BITB and VanEck's HODL's outflows ranged from $57 million to $7 million. "Markets are [in] risk-off mode ahead of CPI and FOMC tomorrow. This month's FOMC will also release the Dot Plot, which informs the market how many cuts the Fed anticipates for the rest of 2024," Singapore-based QCP Capital said in a Tuesday broadcast message. However, the firm added that its long-term view is bullish "despite short-term headwinds."

Donald Trump saidhe wants all remaining bitcoin to be "made in the U.S.A.," having met with executives from mining companies CleanSpark and Riot. The Republican presidential candidate referred to bitcoin mining as the U.S.' "last line of defense against a CBDC," adding that President Biden's "hatred of bitcoin" is beneficial to China and Russia. "We want all the remaining Bitcoin to be MADE IN THE USA!!! It will help us be ENERGY DOMINANT," Trump wrote in a post on the social media platform Truth Social late on Tuesday. Data suggests that more bitcoin is already mined in the U.S. than any other country, with 37.84% of the network's total hash power. Trump's post indicates he wants this figure to be much higher.

Wednesday could prove to be a make-or-break day for markets, as the pivotal U.S. consumer price index report will be released just hours before the Federal Reserve's meeting.

The Labor Department's CPI, due at 12:30 UTC, is expected to show the cost of living increased by 0.1% in May, following April's 0.3% increase, according to FactSet. That would keep the annual inflation rate steady at 3.4%. Meanwhile, the core figure, excluding the volatile food and energy metrics, is forecast to rise 0.3% for May, matching April's pace.

Later, at 18:00 UTC, the Fed is expected to keep the benchmark borrowing cost unchanged between 5.25% and 5.5% and publish the interest rate dot plot chart. The inflation data is expected to influence the dot plot projections and Powell's post-meeting communique.

According to JPMorgan, the dollar will likely surge if the month-on-month core CPI tops 0.4%, which could spell further pain for bitcoin. BTC has lost around 5% since Friday. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's value against major currencies, has risen by 1% to 105.20.