For a brief while on Thursday, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped below $63,000 as other cryptocurrencies crashed in reaction to fresh information showing weaker first-quarter GDP growth and greater inflation in the US.
As per the the U.S. government’s preliminary report for the first quarter, GDP growth of merely 1.6%, extremely below analysts’ expectations of 2.5%. Additionally, it is a decrease from the 3.4% seen in the fourth quarter of 2023.
In the meantime, the GDP price index increased from 1.6% in the previous quarter to 3.1%, which was a little hotter than anticipated.
Investor sentiment soured following a disappointing inflation report, dampening expectations for interest rate cuts this year and leading to a sell-off in risk assets across global markets.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq opened nearly 2% lower, while the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield surged 8 basis points to 4.73%, marking its highest level since November.
At one point, Bitcoin fell more than 4%, reaching a low of $62,800 before most recently rising to $63,700. In the same time frame, Ether (ETH) had a 4% decline and traded at roughly $3,100.
The native currencies of the layer-1 networks Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX), and Aptos (APT) led a further decline in altcoin majors, falling 8%–9% before partially recovering.
Also Read: Bitcoin Price Projections: JPMorgan vs Deutsche Bank
