- Despite the US equity markets experiencing a positive trend after the release of low Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers, Bitcoin and the broader crypto market remained stagnant.
- The total supply for Bitcoin at exchanges has dropped to the low of 2018 as investors prefer self-custody after the recent SEC action on Coinbase and Binance.
After facing some selling pressure over the last few weeks, the Bitcoin (BTC) price has been struggling to make a move above $26,000 recently. As of press time, BTC is trading at $25,909 and has a market cap of $502 billion.
On Tuesday, June 13, the US released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers for the month of May, hitting a two-year low. As per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the CPI jumped by 4% in May, against the projected 4.1%. Also, it was much less than April’s 4.9% CPI data. This gave a much-needed breather to the US equity markets with the S&P 500 ending 0.7% up.
However, Bitcoin and the broader crypto market failed to join the euphoria in the global financial market. BTC and the rest of cryptocurrencies continue to show a stagnant price movement amid the current regulatory battles in the U.S. market. The recent filing of lawsuits by the US SEC on crypto exchanges Coinbase and Binance has infused a negative sentiment in the crypto space.
As a result, a large number of Bitcoins have been moving off exchanges and into self-custody. The total number of Bitcoins on the exchanges has dropped to their lowest levels since February 2018.
📉 #Bitcoin's exchange supply has now fallen to its lowest level since February, 2018. Traders continue moving $BTC to self custody during the uncertainty surrounding #Binance & #Coinbase. As long as these #SEC lawsuits loom, this trend should continue. https://t.co/CBOxJ8oA07 pic.twitter.com/c7MQyMswgp
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) June 14, 2023
What’s Ahead for Bitcoin and Crypto?
Tim Frost, CEO of digital wealth platform Yield App, believes that the SEC’s actions hint at future clarity in the regulatory framework for digital assets. In an email to CoinDesk, Frost wrote:
While today is good news for the U.S. economy and Bitcoin, any wobble that may come from tomorrow’s interest rate decision or the looming recession on the U.S.’s horizon is also likely to prove beneficial for crypto assets. Even altcoins, some of which have lost up to 30% over the past week, will benefit.
With U.S. investors perhaps now largely shaken out of these assets, we could see the beginning of fresh investment in these tokens that is not at all linked to the US economy or US policies.
As per popular crypto analyst Michael van de Poppe, $26,400 will serve as a major resistance for Bitcoin on the upside. He expects the market to drop going into the FOMC meeting later today. On the downside, the support range for Bitcoin will be between $24.5-25K.
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market value, followed the lead of Bitcoin. It initially rose but then gave back some of its gains. Currently, ETH is trading at around $1,735, which is roughly the same as its value on Monday.
Among the 19 tokens mentioned in the Binance or Coinbase lawsuits or both, the tokens of Polygon and Algorand, known as ALG and MATIC respectively, saw a recent increase of 0.3% and 0.8%. However, AXIE, the native cryptocurrency of the Axie Infinity gaming platform, experienced a slight decrease. Binance’s BNB token recently went up by 3.3%.
