The price of the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) rose sharply this Thursday after new inflation data showed U.S. consumer prices increased less than expected in March, yet the rise quickly reversed.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.4% year-over-year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics—below the 2.6% forecast by economists. Core inflation, which strips out food and energy, climbed 2.8%, down from 3.1% in February.
*US MARCH CONSUMER PRICES FALL 0.1% M/M; EST. +0.1%
*US MARCH CONSUMER PRICES RISE 2.4% Y/Y; EST. +2.5%*US MARCH CORE CPI RISES 0.1% M/M; EST. +0.3%
*US MARCH CORE CPI RISES 2.8% Y/Y; EST. +3.0%— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) April 10, 2025
Markets responded swiftly. Bitcoin hovered near $82,000, up 7.5% in 24 hours, while Ethereum and Solana jumped 11%, trading around $1,500 and $109, respectively, while XRP rose around 10% per CoinMarketCap data.
Trump recently halted its planned tariff hikes on most countries for 90 days, lowering reciprocal rates to 10% on imports from 90 nations. However, he raised duties on Chinese goods to 125% and maintained 25% tariffs on foreign vehicles and parts.
Despite a spike in new vehicle costs, overall consumer prices dropped 0.1% month-over-month—the first monthly decline since 2020. Businesses and policymakers are closely watching to see if Trump’s trade policies will reheat inflation or cool demand.
For crypto traders, Thursday’s CPI print offered relief—and a temporary signal that risk assets still have room to run.
Bitcoin, Wider Market Resumes Downtrend
Despite the initial cryptocurrency market rally, crypto prices have since reversed with BTC now at $80,900, while ETH has since dropped to $1,500, and XRP is below the $2 mark after losing roughly 0.1% of its value in the last hour alone.
The drop comes maid a wider market downturn that has seen the stock market’s benchmark index, the S&P 500, lose roughly 2.9% of its value so far in today’s session, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq index retreated by nearly 3.5%.
Year-to-date, the S&P 500 is down roughly 10%, while the Nasdaq lost 14.3% of its value. Bitcoin, in comparison, dropped by 19% and ETH by 56%. XRP has been outperforming, losing roughly 10.8% of its value.
Read more: Bitcoin Breaks Above $82k, But Crypto Market Struggles Under Volatility (Market Outlook)
