Crypto Daybook Americas: Bitcoin Traders Look to CPI as BONK Cheers Memecoin Issuance
Bitcoin (BTC) trades near $103,000, awaiting U.S. April inflation data. Easing U.S.-China trade tensions foster optimism for a softer-than-expected inflation report, potentially leading to Fed interest-rate cuts. This could boost bitcoin to new highs and increase investment in altcoins, as evidenced by bitcoin dominance falling from 65% to 63%. Bitcoin’s price movements have correlated with U.S. asset performance this year, peaking before the Nasdaq and dollar index, and bottoming before their subsequent declines. This raises the question of whether bitcoin is becoming a leading indicator for U.S. assets.
Several key crypto events are upcoming: Neo’s mainnet hard fork on May 14th, the VanEck Onchain Economy ETF (NODE) launch, Galaxy Digital’s Nasdaq listing (GLXY) on May 16th, CME Group’s XRP futures launch and Coinbase’s S&P 500 inclusion on May 19th.
Macroeconomic data releases include U.S. April consumer and producer price inflation, retail sales, and unemployment insurance data on May 13th and 15th. Argentina and Brazil will release inflation and retail sales data, respectively, on May 14th and 15th. Fed Chair Powell will speak on May 15th. Several companies, including Bitfarms, Bit Digital, and NVIDIA, will release earnings reports in May.
Over 11,700 tokens launched on LetsBONK.fun in 24 hours, signifying user migration from Pump.fun. LetsBONK.fun generated $1.02 million in fees on Monday, controlling 31% of the Solana memecoin launchpad market. BONK prices are up over 25% this week. Open interest in bitcoin perpetual futures dropped $1 billion, indicating profit-taking. However, funding rates remain positive, suggesting a bullish sentiment.
BTC is up 1.58%, ETH 1.22%, and the CoinDesk 20 index 1%. The dollar index is testing a bearish trendline; a breakout could signal a trend reversal. Crypto equities showed mixed performance, with Coinbase, Core Scientific, and CleanSpark showing significant gains. Spot BTC ETF daily net flows totaled $5.2 million, while ETH flows were -$17.6 million. Tether’s market cap hit a record high of $150 billion.
