The long-awaited US CPI report was released today, and crypto traders are bracing for volatile trading. With the crypto market already down 0.3% to $2.16 trillion and Bitcoin trading near $62,400, today’s inflation data could determine whether the next move is a rally or further selloff.
June CPI Report
According to Polymarket, CPI is expected to rise 0.2% month-on-month in June, lower than the 0.5% rise recorded in May. On an annual basis, inflation is expected to fall to 3.8% from 4.2% previously.
Investors will also be watching the core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, as it is one of the Fed’s key inflation indicators.
If inflation is lower than expected, there could be less pressure on the Fed to raise rates again. This would likely improve investor confidence and support Bitcoin and the broader crypto market.
However, a better-than-expected number could raise concerns about further interest rate hikes and put pressure on crypto prices.
Fed officials are closely monitoring inflation
Federal Reserve President Christopher Waller recently warned that another strong inflation report would be taken seriously.
“If we get a higher value, we’ll treat it as a signal rather than noise.”
He also stressed that inflation has been above the Fed’s 2% target for months and cannot simply be ignored.
Following his comments, the CME FedWatch tool now shows a 51.6% chance that the Fed will raise rates again in September, further increasing uncertainty in financial markets.
Crypto market awaits volatile session
Major cryptocurrencies fell ahead of today’s report. At the moment, Bitcoin is trading around $62,400, while Ethereum, XRP, and several other large tokens have also posted losses in the past 24 hours.
Apart from inflation, investors are also keeping an eye on rising tensions between the US and Iran, which could continue to push inflation higher and impact the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook.
