Bitcoin, stocks shun CPI print win and give up tariff relief gains — Will BTC whales save the day?

Bitcoin (BTC) price failed to hold its weekly open gains on April 10 as US stocks ignored positive inflation data.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC price volatility ticking higher around the release of the March Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers.

These numbers came in broadly below expectations, revealing slowing inflationary forces despite mass-market disruption due to US trade tariffs.

An official press release from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stated:

“The all items index rose 2.4 percent for the 12 months ending March, after rising 2.8 percent over the 12 months ending February. The all items less food and energy index rose 2.8 percent over the last 12 months, the smallest 12-month increase since March 2021.”

While notionally a tailwind for risk assets, US stocks were in no mood for relief at the open. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index were down 3% and 3.7%, respectively, at the time of writing.

“Markets think the recently strong jobs report and cool inflation data gives Trump the ‘green light’ to continue the trade war,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter suggested in part of a response on X.

Kobeissi nonetheless acknowledged the implications of rapidly declining inflation — something which tariffs had yet to influence.

“This marks the lowest Core CPI inflation rate in 4 years,” it continued in a separate X thread. 

“It also puts Headline CPI inflation just 40 basis points above the Fed’s 2% target. Inflation is down 60 basis points over the last 3 months alone.”

BTC price rebound may rest with ”Spoofy the Whale”

Turning to BTC price action, market participants were in a wait-and-see mode after the US paused the majority of its tariff implementations for 90 days.

Related: Crypto trading firm warns of ‘classic bull trap’ as Bitcoin tags $82.7K

For popular trader Daan Crypto Trades, a reclaim of at least $83,000 was necessary as an initial step for bulls.

“$BTC Saw a strong move after the tariff pause was announced,” he told X followers.

“Where BTC was more resilient on the downside, we saw equities pump more on the back of this pause (which makes sense as those are directly influenced by the tariffs).”

An accompanying chart showed nearby key trend lines around the spot price.

“BTC traded right back into the 4H 200MA (Purple) which has capped price over the past couple of weeks. That $83-85K is a key level to overtake for the bulls,” he continued.

“Right below we can see the ~$81.1K horizontal being a key level that sees quite a lot of action. I think it’s a good one to watch in the short term. Trading below that area could turn this into a nasty deviation/stop hunt.”

Analyzing order book liquidity, Keith Alan, co-founder of trading resource Material Indicators, drew attention to both the 21-day and 50-day simple moving averages (SMA) on the daily chart.

“First attempt at breaking resistance at the 21-Day MA was rejected, however BTC bid liquidity is moving higher so I think we’ll see another attempt,” he summarized earlier on the day. 

“If bulls can R/S Flip the 21-Day, there is even stronger resistance where liquidity is stacked around the trend line and the 50-Day MA.”

Alan reiterated the role of large-volume traders shifting liquidity above and below Bitcoin’s spot price to influence price action. The actions of one entity in particular, which he previously dubbed “Spoofy the Whale,” remained a point of consideration.

“If ‘Spoofy’ will give us a roof pull, we’ll get a shot at the 100-Day and the 2025 open at $93.3k, which is the gateway back to 6-figure Bitcoin,” he concluded.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.