Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a notable decline on Thursday, falling over 4% in the past 24 hours to trade around $58,000. This drop nearly erased all gains from the previous week and was part of a broader trend of losses across major cryptocurrencies.
Ether (ETH) also saw a significant decrease, falling 3.8%, while Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), BNB Chain (BNB), and Ripple (XRP) saw more modest declines of around 2.5%.
The sharp decline in Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies followed the release of the July U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, which showed a 2.9% year-on-year increase, marking the first time since 2021 that the CPI has dipped below 3%. Despite a rebound in the NASDAQ and S&P 500, Bitcoin’s price continued to slide after the CPI announcement.
Recent months have seen crypto prices react sensitively to U.S. economic data, with investors increasingly favoring stability over riskier assets. According to K33 Research, this sensitivity has contributed to Bitcoin’s recent volatility.
Traders are now speculating that Bitcoin could fall further to around $55,000 in the near term before potentially rebounding. Alex Kuptsikevich, Senior Market Analyst at FxPro, noted, “A new sell-off momentum is still the prevailing scenario, with a potential pullback to $55K. 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.”
In related news, U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw significant outflows on Wednesday, totaling $81 million. Grayscale’s GBTC experienced the largest outflows with $56 million, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC with $18 million in outflows. Ark Invest’s ARKB and Bitwise’s BITB saw $6.7 million and $5.7 million in outflows, respectively. Only Franklin Templeton’s EZBC and BlackRock’s IBIT saw net inflows, totaling $6 million.
In contrast, Ether ETFs performed better, with a cumulative $10 million in net inflows, extending their streak to three days. BlackRock’s ETHA recorded $16 million in inflows, while Grayscale’s ETHE saw a loss of $16 million. Other Ether ETFs, including Grayscale’s mini Ether trust ETH, Fidelity’s FETH, and Bitwise’s ETHW, collectively gained $11 million.
