Bitcoin trades at $79,000, next week’s US inflation data to test rate-cut hopes and crypto valuations

Bitcoin traded near the $79,000 mark as focus shifts to next week’s inflation data. Experts believe a softer CPI could bring rate-cut expectations back into focus, while a higher-than-expected reading would support the higher-for-longer view and keep pressure on crypto valuation. The cryptocurrency was trading at $79,644 the past 24 hours, Bitcoin was down 1.8% and Ethereum was down 2.3% to trade at $2,452 mark. Among the major altcoins, BNB, XRP, Solana, Hyperliquid, Dogecoin and Cardano were down 5.4% whereas Tron was up 0.9%. The global crypto market capitalisation edged down 1.4% to $2.77 trillion, according to Coingecko.