Bitcoin and Ethereum posted gains after softer PPI data, while ETFs saw steady inflows.
Major digital assets posted gains on Wednesday, July 16, after core Producer Price Index (PPI) inflation data came in cooler than expected.
Bitcoin (BTC) trades at $119,560, reflecting a 2.4% daily increase. It remains about 2.6% short of its most recent all-time high of $122,800, which occurred on Monday, July 14.
Ethereum (ETH) jumped nearly 9% over the past 24 hours to trade around $3,312—its highest price since February—making it the best performer today among the top-20 crypto assets. ETH has had a strong week, being up over 25%.
Solana (SOL) saw a 7.4% gain to $173 today, while XRP rose 5% to break over $3, climbing nearly 28% over the past week.
Total crypto market capitalization remained flat in the past 24 hours at approximately $3.89 trillion, according to CoinGecko. Trading volume over the same period reached $206 billion, down from $211 billion the day before.
ETFs and Liquidations: A Market Interplay
Over the past 24 hours, crypto positions saw liquidations exceeding $366 million, according to CoinGlass data. The largest single order, $2.43 million for ETH/USDT, occurred on Binance. Short positions made up the majority of the wipeout, totaling $283 million. Ethereum led liquidations with $167 million, followed by Bitcoin with around $55 million.
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in over $402 million in inflows on July 15, according to SoSoValue, while spot Ethereum ETFs attracted a more modest $192 million. Both products marked their ninth straight day of net inflows.
PPI & CPI
Traders are weighing the latest PPI data, which remained flat in June instead of rising 0.2% as expected. Core PPI also showed no change. Goods prices increased 0.3%, but a 0.1% drop in services balanced that out.
On a year-over-year basis, U.S. June PPI inflation rose 2.3%, falling below the 2.5% forecast and down from 2.7% the month before. This marks the lowest reading since September 2024, according to Investing.com’s official X account.
They released the new data just one day after core Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures showed that in June, prices for everyday goods and services—excluding food and energy—increased by 0.2% from the previous month. Over the past year, these prices rose 2.9%, meeting analysts’ expectations.
Trump Denies Plans to Fire Powell
Earlier today, rumors circulated that President Donald Trump was considering removing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell from his post. However, the rumors have since been denied by Trump, who added that Powell’s firing was “highly unlikely.”
“No, we’re not planning anything,” Trump told reporters, per NBC News. “I don’t rule out anything but I think it’s highly unlikely unless he has to leave for fraud.”
This comes as Trump has pleaded with the Fed to cut interest rates and after months he has criticized Powell in social media posts.
“The Fed should cut rates by 3 points. We observe very low inflation. They would save one trillion dollars a year!!!” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, yesterday.
Still, the U.S. central bank is currently employing a wait-and-see approach to properly assess the fiscal impact of Trump’s barrage of tariffs, which they expect to implement on August 1.
