Crypto markets showed signs of weakness on Friday as traders awaited the release of the core PCE inflation data, a critical gauge that could influence the Federal Reserve’s future rate decisions.
XRP, known for its role in payments, dipped below its 200-day simple moving average (SMA) for the first time since early April, signaling increasing selling pressure. The token fell beneath $2.20, declining 4.6% in the last 24 hours, according to TradingView. This drop came despite reports of rising corporate interest in XRP as a Treasury asset.
Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, also slipped, briefly falling under $105,000 during European trading hours and extending its 24-hour losses to nearly 3%.
The BTC downturn coincided with a significant $358 million net outflow from 11 spot bitcoin ETFs on Thursday — the first outflow since mid-May and the largest single-day withdrawal since March, per SoSoValue. Renewed trade war concerns also contributed to the cautious mood.
Other major cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Dogecoin (DOGE), posted steeper declines. Smaller tokens such as Optimism (OP), Arbitrum (ARB), Bonk (BONK), and Pepe (PEPE) saw losses exceeding 10%, according to Coingecko.
Eyes on Core PCE Inflation Data
The personal consumption expenditure (PCE) index, which tracks consumer inflation, rose 0.15% in April. This eased the annual inflation rate slightly to 2.2% from 2.3% in March, based on FactSet forecasts.
The core PCE — the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure excluding food and energy prices — is projected to have increased 0.12% monthly and 2.5% annually.
If inflation continues to cool, expectations of Fed rate cuts may strengthen, potentially benefiting bitcoin and other digital assets.
“Markets are closely monitoring today’s Core PCE data, which could revive bullish sentiment if inflation shows further signs of easing,” said Valentin Fournier, Lead Research Analyst at BRN.
