Investing.com-- Bitcoin steadied on Wednesday after softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data bolstered Federal Reserve rate-cut bets. The premier cryptocurrency recently rallied after investors welcomed a temporary U.S.-China trade truce.
Bitcoin was nearly unchanged at $103,580.0 by 09:51 ET (13:51 GMT).
The token saw sharp gains last week as it blew past the coveted $100k level on optimism around easing trade tensions, but lost steam in the last few sessions amid profit-taking.
Soft US CPI sparks Fed rate cut bets
U.S. consumer price index data released Tuesday came in below expectations, easing concerns over the inflationary effects of trade tariffs.
Separately, a joint statement on Monday by the U.S. and China to temporarily roll back tariffs helped calm fears of a global economic downturn.
The U.S. will reduce its tariff on Beijing from 145% to 30%, while China will lower its retaliatory tariff from 125% to 10%, both for 90 days.
While these developments may give the Federal Reserve more room to adjust interest rates, concerns over potential reacceleration in inflation remained amid tariff risks.
Analysts cautioned that the central bank would likely wait for clear signs of economic deterioration before cutting rates, prioritizing its inflation-fighting credibility over short-term economic support.
Major altcoins registered mild gains as traders grew optimistic that the Fed might eventually have room to ease interest rates.
Israel’s eToro aims to raise $620 mln in Nasdaq debut
Israel-based stock and cryptocurrency trading platform eToro Group is set to raise approximately $620 million in an upsized U.S. initial public offering, pricing 11.92 million shares at $52 each, above the initial target range of $46 to $50.
The shares are scheduled to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on May 14.
This offering, comprising equal parts new and existing shares, values the company at around $4.3 billion.
Crypto price today: altcoins slightly higher
Most altcoins jumped on Wednesday, with much sharper gains than Bitcoin, as the economic outlook improved.
World no.2 crypto Ether added 2% to $2,598.52.
World no. 3 crypto XRP rose 1% to $2.56.
Solana jumped more than 2%, while Cardano advanced 1%, and Polygon traded flat.
Among meme tokens, Dogecoin climbed 2%, while $TRUMP rose 3.15%.
Bernstein highlights 3 reasons driving Ethereum’s recent rally
Ethereum has surged 65% over the past month, rebounding after lagging behind Bitcoin for much of the past year. The ETH/BTC ratio had dropped about 45% over that period, as Bitcoin gained traction as a store-of-value asset and Ethereum lost retail engagement to Layer 2 chains and faster blockchains like Solana.
In a recent note, brokerage Bernstein highlighted three factors behind Ethereum’s recent rally.
First, the crypto narrative is broadening beyond Bitcoin, with rising interest in stablecoin payments and securities tokenization—areas where Ethereum holds a strong position, including a 51% share of minted stablecoin supply.
“Stablecoin payments and securities tokenization are gaining mainstream adoption,” said Bernstein analyst Gautam Chuggani.
Second, Ethereum is benefiting from institutional Layer 2 adoption, with Coinbase’s Base and Robinhood’s WonderFi both built on its infrastructure.
Third, hedge funds that had shorted ETH in favor of Bitcoin and Solana may now be unwinding those trades, giving Ethereum room to outperform.
Ayushman Ojha contributed to this report.