Bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) price drops 4% in US morning hours
The price of bitcoin (BTC) fell sharply in the morning hours of Friday in the US, reversing a move that saw the world’s largest cryptocurrency rise to $63,500.
As good an excuse as any for the catalysts was disappointing US economic data and hawkish remarks from Dallas Fed President Lori Logan. The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey for May fell to 67.4 from 77.2 previously. This missed economists’ predictions of 76.0 by a mile. Perhaps most disturbing is the fact that one-year inflation expectations have risen to 3.5%, from the previous 3.2% and against forecasts of 3.2%. It was just a week ago that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell scoffed at concerns about stagflation, saying he saw neither “deer” nor “inflation.”
As for the Dallas Fed chief, Logan said this morning that there were “uncertainties” about whether current Fed policy is sufficiently restrictive and noted “important upside risks to inflation.”
The news combined to modestly lift US dollar and bond yields but had little effect on stocks. Bitcoin, on the other hand, quickly retreated, at one point falling more than 4% from the day’s high to $60,700. At press time, the price had jumped to $61,000, a drop of 0.6% in the last 24 hours. The wider CoinDesk 20 Index increased 0.15% in the same period.