Bitcoin Price Today Holds at $118K After Record Surge as US PPI Data Pressures Markets..

Bitcoin Price Today Holds Above $118K After Retreat From Record $124K as Hot US PPI Data Cools Fed Cut Hopes...

Bitcoin (BTC) steadied on Friday, trading around $118,630 after hitting a fresh all-time high of $124,436 in the previous session. The rally lost steam after stronger-than-expected US Producer Price Index (PPI) data dampened expectations of aggressive Federal Reserve rate cuts in September.

At 09:29 ET (13:29 GMT), Bitcoin was up 0.2%, while Ethereum (ETH) also stabilized near recent highs, trading at $4,613.64. Other leading altcoins such as XRP, Solana, Cardano, Polygon, and Dogecoin saw muted price action.

Fed Rate Cut Bets Shift After PPI Surprise..

US producer prices jumped 0.9% month-on-month in July, the sharpest rise since June 2022 and well above forecasts of 0.2%, according to the Labor Department. The upside surprise renewed inflation concerns and lowered the chances of a 50 bps Fed cut next month, with traders now pricing in a 90% probability of just a 25 bps cut.

The recalibration strengthened the US dollar and weighed on risk assets, including cryptocurrencies, though Bitcoin continues to hold close to record levels, underpinned by institutional demand and momentum from recent policy developments.

Trump-Backed Crypto Miner Expands Into Asia..

Separately, the Financial Times reported that American Bitcoin, a crypto mining firm backed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, is exploring acquisitions in Japan and Hong Kong to expand its Bitcoin reserves. The company, set to go public in September via a reverse merger with Gryphon Digital Mining, aims to mirror Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy-style treasury model.

Circle Announces Secondary Share Offering..

Meanwhile, Circle Internet Group Inc (NYSE: CRCL), the issuer of USDC stablecoin, said it will sell 10 million shares in a secondary offering priced at $130 each, more than four times its June IPO price. Of these, 2 million shares will be sold by Circle, while existing investors will offload 8 million shares.

Circle said proceeds from its portion will go toward general corporate purposes, while it won’t benefit from the investor sales.

Crypto Market Snapshot..

• Bitcoin (BTC): $118,630 (+0.2%)

• Ethereum (ETH): $4,613.64 (+1.5%)

• XRP: $3.11 (flat)

• Solana (SOL): flat

• Cardano (ADA): +2.5%

• Polygon (MATIC): -0.1%

• Dogecoin (DOGE): +1.5%

• $TRUMP token: +1.2%