Decentral Block Post

The United States Consumer Price Index soared to 9.1% in June, exceeding expectations of an 8.8% rise year-on-year. Currently, the Fed funds futures point to an 81 basis points rate hike for July, suggesting that some participants anticipate a 100 basis points hike.

Several on-chain indicators have been pointing to a likely bottom in Bitcoin (BTC) but the analysts from market intelligence firm Glassnode are not convinced that the low has been made. In “The Week On-Chain” report on July 11, the analysts said that the market may have to fall further “to fully test investor resolve, and enable the market to establish a resilient bottom.”

While the short term remains bearish, strategists are confident about its long-term prospects. CoinShares chief strategy officer Meltem Demirors said on CNBC that Bitcoin may extend its “downward correction” in the near term but it is likely to make a new all-time high “in the next 24 months.”

What are the important levels on Bitcoin and the major altcoins that could arrest the decline? Let’s study the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

BTC/USDT

Bitcoin dropped back to the support line of the symmetrical triangle on July 12, indicating that the break above the triangle on July 7 may have been a bull trap.

There is an old saying, “cash is king,” but if it is sitting in a bank account or, in the case of crypto — a wallet, it diminishes daily due to inflation. This is especially the case now as inflation in the United States breaks its 40-year record. While the dollar-cost-averaging (DCA) strategy allows an investor to minimize the effects of volatility by purchasing an unstable asset in time intervals, inflation still causes a decrease in a target asset’s value over time. 

For instance, Solana (SOL) has a pre-set protocol inflation rate of 8%, and if the yield is not generated through farming or utilizing decentralized finance (DeFi), one’s holdings are depreciating at a rate of 8% per year.

However, despite the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) increasing by 17.3% in a year, as of July 13, 2022, the hopes of receiving significant returns in the bull market are still pushing investors to engage with volatile assets.

In the upcoming “Blockchain Adoption and Use Cases: Finding Solutions in Surprising Ways” report, Cointelegraph Research will dig deeper into different solutions that will help to resist inflation in the bear market.

Download and purchase reports on the Cointelegraph Research Terminal.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell $800 in minutes on July 13 as the latest United States Consumer Price Index (CPI) data came in far ahead of estimates.

Dollar smashes new 20-year highs on hot CPI

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it dived under $19,000 minutes after the June CPI print, which put U.S. inflation at 9.1%.

Expectations had favored 8.8% CPI year-on-year, this still being the highest reading since the start of the 1980s.

With inflation all but guaranteeing further rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, the mood among risk assets — including crypto — swiftly turned sour.

"Peak inflation is here with CPI coming in at 9.1%," Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe reacted, adding that $19,500 should have held for BTC/USD to avoid "cascading south some more."