Bitcoin climbed back above the $71,000 (£56,506) mark on Thursday, despite stock markets closing lower after a disappointing US inflation report.
Read more: Crypto live prices
The world’s largest digital asset by market capitalisation (BTC-USD) increased by over 2% in the past 24 hours, reaching a daily high of over $71,200. The uptick follows a downturn in early trading on Wednesday, that saw bitcoin reach a daily low of around $68,000.
Read more: Bitcoin ETFs poised for US pension plan inflows, Standard Chartered analyst says
US stocks close lower after hot CPI reading
Major US stock indices closed lower after US consumer prices came in hotter than expected in March, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
The US Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% over the previous month and 3.5% over the year to March, an acceleration from February’s 3.2% annual gain in prices. The data matched February’s month-over-month increase.
The hot print complicates the Federal Reserve’s next move on interest rates as the central bank works to bring inflation back down to its 2% target.
In pre-market trading on Thursday, the S&P Futures and Dow Futures both fell 0.038%. Bitcoin has a tendency to march in lockstep with major equity indices, but in the past 24 hours has diverged from this pattern.
The upcoming bitcoin halving
Bitcoin has an upcoming event that could act as a major price catalyst. The consensus among analysts is that the upcoming ‘bitcoin halving’ could continue to drive inflows into the bitcoin market. This event is anticipated to occur on or around Saturday, 20 April.
Read more: Bitcoin price volatile as reduction in supply looms
The bitcoin halving is an event that happens about every four years. The halving will reduce the reward that miners receive for validating blocks on the blockchain from the current 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. This could act as a supply crunch for the digital asset, potentially leading to a price appreciation.
Watch: How crypto’s faster payment systems are influencing traditional finance | Future Focus
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