Bitcoin and Ethereum Dip Hours Ahead of New U.S. Inflation Data

By Stacy Elliott

Bitcoin and Ethereum have both dipped as investors watch with trepidation for the next round of U.S. inflation data to be released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

It's worth noting, though, that both BTC and ETH have seen gains compared to last week's not so great start to the month. In the past seven days, the Bitcoin price has gained 4.3% and the Ethereum price has gained 6.3%.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading just below $69,000 after losing 2.3% in the past day. And the Ethereum price—which had been leading Bitcoin in gains earlier this week—has lost 3.4% in the past 24 hours. ETH is currently changing hands for just over $3,500, according to CoinGecko data.

Bitcoin is now 9 days away from its next halving event, which will see the reward paid to miners cut from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC on April 20. Although the regularly scheduled anti-inflation measure is usually very bullish for Bitcoin, volatility leading up to it has spiked, with some traders arguing that any post-halving rally will be delayed.

For example, Bitcoin billionaire Arthur Hayes predicted earlier this week that the crypto market will experience a "raging firesale of crypto assets" until at least May.

Meanwhile, the Ethereum community was just dealt a round of pessimism from spot Bitcoin ETF issuers. Speaking at the Paris Blockchain Week crypto event this week, VanEck CEO Jan van Eck said he's not confident there'll be much progress made this year.

"We were the first to file as well for Ethereum in the U.S., and we and [Ark Invest CEO] Cathie Wood, are kind of the first in line for May, I guess, to probably be rejected," he told CNBC's Arjun Kharpal at the event.

A new entrant to the U.S. Bitcoin ETF space, CoinShares, shared a similar view. In March, CoinShares exercised its option to acquire the Valkyrie's ETF business—including its Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund which trades on Nasdaq under the BRRR ticker.

CoinShares CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti, also speaking to CNBC at the Paris event, shared his skepticism about gaining SEC approval for a proof-of-stake coin like Ethereum. "I don’t see anything being approved this side of the year," he said.

Edited by Stephen Graves.

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