Soft core inflation gave crypto a bounce, but only bitcoin held up on the week

Crypto caught a modest bid on Thursday after Wednesday’s inflation report showed underlying price pressures staying contained. Bitcoin rose about 1.9% over 24 hours to roughly $62,600, leading the majors, per CoinDesk data.

Headline inflation rose 0.5% on the month and 4.2% over the year, the fastest annual pace since April 2023, but energy did most of the work, climbing 3.9% on the month and accounting for more than 60% of the increase as oil rose on the Iran conflict.

Core inflation, which strips out food and energy and is the gauge the Federal Reserve leans on, rose just 0.2% on the month, below the 0.3% forecast, and 2.9% over the year.

The bounce is shallow and concentrated in bitcoin. BTC is down less than 1% over the past seven days, holding its 200-week average, while the rest of the top tokens remain deep in the red on the week. Ether is off about 6.5% at roughly $1,651, XRP down 7.5% near $1.12, Solana down 7.4% around $65, and dogecoin off 7%. BNB held up better at a 2.1% weekly loss.

Traders now await Fed’s June 17 meeting, where markets expect no change to rates. The hot headline gives hawks cover to stay restrictive, while the soft core gives doves room to argue the pressure is narrow and energy-driven.

Another widely-cited catalyst is the public offering of Elon Musk-owned satellite, rockets and AI company SpaceX, which prices later Thursday and is expected to start trading on Friday at a $1.8 trillion valuation.

Shares for the company are already four times oversubscribed, with some singular entities bidding as much as $10 billion for the stock, per Bloomberg.