Bitcoin (BTC) topped $22,000 after the Wall Street open on Feb. 14 as crucial US inflation data returned “mixed” results.
BTC Price Hits 5-Day Highs on IPC
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView It followed BTC/USD as it tested multi-week lows twice on hourly time frames before pulling back higher.
The pair saw sudden volatility in line with predictions, as the January consumer price index (CPI) numbers reached, something that was repeated at the beginning of the listing on Wall Street.
However, even within a tight trading range, Bitcoin’s reaction was rather muted, with moves up and down only involving several hundred dollars at a time.
That reflected the CPI data itself, which was broadly in line with market expectations. A mild exception was year-on-year, which was “hot” at 0.2% above the 6.2% forecast.
“Mixed US inflation”, market commentator Holger Zschaepitz wrote partly from a reaction on social media.
Mixed US inflation. January CPI was in line w/St on a mom basis, coming in at +0.5% headline and +0.4% core. On a year-over-year basis, things heated up a bit, with +6.4% overall (down from +6.5% in December but ahead of +6.2% for St) and +5.6% core (below +5.7% but ahead of +5.5% of St). (@vital_knowledge) pic.twitter.com/do5yNoEyIa
—Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) February 14, 2023
Crypto circles also noted the lack of panic, which accompanied the reaction of crypto markets.
“This appears to be one of the least volatile market reactions to the US CPI since 2022,” investment research resource Game of Trades commented.
With little signal coming from the macro, Bitcoin traders looked for potential range highs and lows to determine future near-term price action.
“Adjusted daily range right now”, Crypto Chase summarized together with an explanatory table.
“I think we eventually interact with both the red box and the liquidity below. I would watch for red box shorts and longs after sweeping 20.3K liquidity.”
Fellow trader Skew added that the whales had reduced long-term exposure to BTC after printing.
$BTC CVD perp deposits and delta orders
The market is definitely biased towards holding short positions.
Some whales reduced lengths after the IPC. pic.twitter.com/fogJG1XxkJ— Skew Δ (@52kskew) February 14, 2023
Prior to that, monitoring of material indicators of the resources had revealed that the whales were setting what resembled a trap for retail investors.
#FireCharts shows #Bitcoin whales trying to lure retail to higher levels before the #CPI as purple whales are sold in retail offer liquidity. Also note that the buy wall has returned to the $24.4k range over 2 levels. If the top of $6 million is hit, I expect the bottom of $18 million to strengthen.#nfa pic.twitter.com/sG3O9IzXhC
— Material indicators (@MI_Algos) February 14, 2023
DXY forms a continuous focus
In stocks, an equally lackluster response to the CPI sent the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index open unchanged.
Related: First Weekly Death Cross: 5 Things To Know About Bitcoin This Week
The US Dollar Index (DXY), a keen focus for some in the run-up to a week of macro data releases, briefly spiked above 103.5 before returning to base.
“I said to keep an eye on DXY. It almost hits the green box and bounces. Should it start to move higher, bearish for crypto imo,” popular Crypto trader Ed wrote in part of his latest Twitter updates.
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
