U.S. April CPI Runs Hot; Bitcoin Rebounds Above $80,600 as Risk Assets Find a Floor
CoinDesk reported that U.S. April inflation data topped expectations, further cooling hopes for near-term rate cuts. Risk assets sold off immediately after the release but then steadied, with bitcoin briefly reclaiming $80,600.
April CPI rose 0.6% month over month and accelerated to 3.8% year over year, the hottest reading since May 2023. Core CPI, excluding food and energy, increased 0.4% month over month and came in at 2.8% year over year, also above forecasts.
Energy remained the main driver. Energy costs climbed 17.9% year over year, with gasoline up 28.4% and fuel oil up 54.3%. Real average hourly earnings fell 0.5% month over month and 0.3% year over year, pointing to continued pressure on household purchasing power.
Market moves moderated as the session progressed. Bitcoin briefly dipped to around $80,000 before recovering to roughly $80,700. U.S. equities finished higher. In rates, markets have shifted toward materially higher odds of rate hikes in 2026.
Clarity Act draft draws heavy amendments
The U.S. Senate Banking Committee released a 309-page draft of the Clarity Act and plans to take it up on Thursday. Key elements include defining regulatory boundaries between the SEC and CFTC, offering protections for DeFi developers who do not control user funds, and restricting passive yield on stablecoins. The draft omits political ethics provisions, drawing criticism from some Democrats. More than 100 amendments have already been submitted ahead of formal markup, signaling substantial revisions may follow.
JPMorgan files for tokenized money market fund on Ethereum
JPMorgan has applied to launch the JPMorgan OnChain LiquidityToken Money Market Fund (JLTXX) on Ethereum. The fund would mainly hold short-term U.S. Treasuries, cash, and overnight repos backed by government securities, targeting stablecoin issuer reserve needs. It would be the bank's second tokenized money market fund, with a more explicit focus on stablecoin reserve use cases. CoinDesk noted BlackRock and Morgan Stanley are developing similar offerings as traditional finance moves deeper into the stablecoin "yield backing" asset market.
Ethereum rolls out Clear Signing standard
An Ethereum ecosystem working group of wallet developers, security firms, and projects linked to the Ethereum Foundation released the Clear Signing open standard to curb losses tied to "blind signing"—approving raw hexadecimal transaction data without clearly understanding what is being authorized. The goal is to present human-readable transaction details before users sign, reducing the risk of malicious approvals.
ETF flows and other notes
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs posted a net outflow of $233 million on Tuesday. Spot ethereum ETFs saw a net outflow of $131 million today. An XRP ETF recorded a one-day inflow of $25.8 million, the largest since January.
CoinDesk also said Square now supports bitcoin payments for more than 1 million merchants; DTCC has selected Chainlink to support its collateral AppChain; and Franklin Templeton has partnered with Payward, Kraken's parent, to help integrate tokenized stocks and on-chain funds into trading platforms.
