Bitcoin Steady as US Inflation Data Meets Expectations

Bitcoin's price held steady at around $64,500 on Thursday as US stocks rebounded after inflation data came in line with expectations. The PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) index, considered the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, showed a monthly decline for the first time since 2020.

The June print of the PCE index was 3.7% year-over-year, matching market forecasts. This is still above the Fed's target rate of 2%, but it marked a reversal from May's reading of 4.1%, which was the highest in three years.

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan believes that future interest-rate announcements will have less impact on Bitcoin's price performance, predicting that modest changes to rates are likely. He cited the CME Group's FedWatch Tool, which expects a 50bps rise over the next year, as evidence for this view.