Thin Liquidity, Bitcoin Flat Awaits US CPI
Bitcoin traded virtually unchanged around $67,000 during the European session on Thursday (February 12th), as investors digested stronger-than-expected US employment data. The data dampened expectations of an imminent Federal Reserve interest rate cut, which is typically a headwind for riskier assets like crypto.
The world's largest cryptocurrency was last up slightly by about 0.4% to $67,102.8, but remained stuck below the psychological $70,000 level. Market activity also appeared sluggish due to thin liquidity, although Bitcoin rebounded from a sharp decline toward the $60,000 area earlier in the month.
The main trigger came from the US Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) report released Wednesday, which showed above-expected job gains. The unemployment rate remained near multi-month lows, while wage growth remained strong—a combination that reinforces the view that the Fed could potentially hold interest rates higher for longer. Following the release of the data, market participants reduced bets on a rate cut in the near term, with the odds now leaning more toward June, and the market is awaiting Thursday's weekly jobless claims and Friday's CPI data for further direction.
In the altcoin market, movement was positive but remained limited. Ethereum rose 1.1% to $1,972.92, while XRP gained 1.6% to $1.38. Solana remained flat, while Cardano and Polygon each rose 2.5%. In the meme token category, Dogecoin gained 2.2%.
Source: Newsmaker.id
