Bitcoin (BTC-USD) surged past $124,000 overnight before sliding back to around $120,991 early Thursday, still up 0.6% in the last 24 hours. The move came as traders leaned into bets on Fed rate cuts and piled into digital assetsbut that momentum took a hit after U.S. wholesale inflation data came in hotter than expected. The Producer Price Index report for July raised fresh doubts about the Fed easing at its September meeting, and that single data point was enough to drain some of the euphoria from crypto markets.
Altcoins felt the shift fast. Ether dropped 2.3% to $4,577, while Solana and XRP slid 2.9% and 5.1%, respectively. Dogecoin, the ever-volatile memecoin, tumbled 7.7%. With inflation reasserting itself, riskier bets across the board are back under the microscopeand crypto, still heavily sentiment-driven, could remain tethered to every economic release between now and the Fed’s decision. If rates don’t come down soon, the case for near-term upside in tokens like ETH and SOL gets a little murkier.
On the equity side, crypto exchange Bullish is having a very different week. After soaring 84% in its IPO debut Wednesday, the stock was up another 8.5% premarket Thursday. Backed by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and hedge fund manager Louis Bacon, Bullish is getting attention as investors search for real businesses in the crypto ecosystem. That enthusiasm didn’t extend to 180 Life Sciences. The Thiel-backed firm, which recently bought a large Ether stake and plans to rebrand as ETHZilla, dropped 28% in premarket tradingproof that bold pivots and meme-friendly tickers may not be enough in this market.
