The value of assets such as bitcoin and gold sees a hike as investors focus on reassessing the stickiness of inflation following an unexpected hike in the US consumer price index (CPI) in October.
Since the Labor Department’s CPI report was released at 13:30 UTC (8:30 a.m. ET), bitcoin’s price has increased by almost $3,000, reaching a new all-time high of $68,950.
It is the fastest growth of the cost of living in the US since 1990. It rose 6.2% in October as compared to the previous year.
Inflation, which removes the volatile food and energy component, increased 4.6 percent, the highest rate since August 1991.
The new figures may provide a fresh test of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s statement that the inflation danger is “transitory,” which asserts that price increases will lessen once the global economy has fully reopened from coronavirus-related restrictions and constraints, as well as other problems.
“The rate of inflation was influenced by a broad range of items that include energy, shelter, food, used automobiles and trucks, and new cars and trucks,” said the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Bitcoin is now up 2.7 percent on the day. The psychological resistance of $70,000 has been broken according to a price-chart analysis, with a descending trendline breakout exposed on the hourly chart.
In October, the price of bitcoin rose by 40%. The claim was that a bitcoin futures-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) would bring in wider participation, resulting in increased demand for cryptocurrencies and thus higher prices.
Analysts at JPMorgan said the rally was caused by optimism about inflation levels and bitcoin’s popularity as protection against increasing costs.
Due to limitations on bitcoin’s supply that are built into the underlying blockchain network’s software, many cryptocurrency investors see it as a bulwark against central bank money printing.
The bitcoin price’s response to the CPI report is not only a signal that the market is extremely wary of inflation, but it’s also an indication that investors are using bitcoin as a safe haven against rising prices.
With equities markets barely showing any strain, this appears to be a pattern that will continue. The S&P 500 index of large US companies’ futures contracts was down 0.2% at the time of writing.
Gold has broken above a long-held barrier at $1,830 to trade at a five-month high of $1,853.
According to a report from Bloomberg, the “breakeven rate” in the U.S., which measures inflation expectations over the next five years using bond-market indicators, has hit 3%, its highest level since at least 2001.