Bitcoin hits $26K as investors react to latest CPI data

Bitcoin price hit highs of $26,553 on Coinbase, with 16% upside in 24 hours.
US inflation data showed CPI rose 6% in the past 12 months in February.
On-chain data suggests BTC price could rally to $30,000 in the short term.

Bitcoin rose sharply on Tuesday, breaking past $26,000 as the crypto market reacted positively to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data by the US Department of Labor.

Bitcoin breaks $26k amid market reaction to CPI data

According to data from TradingView, the price of Bitcoin spiked 16% to highs of $26,553 on the cryptocurrency Coinbase.

Bitcoin price rallied above $26,000 on Tuesday. Chart courtesy of TradingView

As noted yesterday, BTC price soared from lows of $20,000 to break above $24,000 – the bullish sentiment buoyed by the US government’s actions in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse.

On-chain data shared by market research platform IntoTheBlock shows Bitcoin faces minimal selling pressure to around $30,000.

On-chain ownership indicators for Bitcoin are pointing to very little potential new selling pressure until we get closer to $30k $BTC.https://t.co/9Mt8pOZD34 pic.twitter.com/DoAAxdX7lF

— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) March 14, 2023

The aggregate market data from CoinGecko showed the total crypto market cap has surged by more than 14% as major altcoins like Ethereum and BNB hit highs of $1,750 and $315 respectively.

Per the US Department of Labor, CPI rose 0.4% in February and 6% over the last year to align with market expectations. Notably, the data showed US inflation had increased at its slowest pace since September 2021. The core CPI, which strikes off the more volatile food and energy items, increased by 5.5% to also fall within expectations.

Stocks also opened higher on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 up 1.5% as investors turned attention to the Federal Reserve and its interest rates path. Market analyst Carl Quantanilla points out this scenario.

#CPI “isn’t the best-case scenario, but there are enough dovish pieces that when coupled with what’s happening with banks should give Powell cover to dramatically shift the policy message on 3/22. It’s still hard to say whether they do 0 or 25bp ..” @knowledge_vital

— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla) March 14, 2023

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 320 points, or 1%, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.7% at 9:50 am ET.