XRP Breaks Below 200-Day Average; Bitcoin Retreats to $105K as Market Awaits Core PCE

Investor sentiment in the cryptocurrency market turned cautious on Friday as traders awaited the release of the core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) inflation data—a critical metric closely watched by the Federal Reserve for policy guidance.

XRP, the payment-focused digital token, slipped below its 200-day simple moving average (SMA) for the first time since April 10, signaling growing downward momentum. The price dropped under $2.20, shedding 4.6% over the past 24 hours, according to TradingView. This decline occurred despite news pointing to heightened demand for XRP as a corporate Treasury asset.

Bitcoin (BTC), the flagship cryptocurrency by market cap, also experienced a pullback, briefly falling below $105,000 during European trading hours. This extended its overnight losses to nearly 3% on a 24-hour basis.

BTC’s slide followed a significant $358 million net outflow from 11 spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Thursday — the first outflow since May 13 and the largest single-day withdrawal since March 11, according to SoSoValue. Additionally, rising trade war fears contributed to the cautious mood.

Other major cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Dogecoin (DOGE) posted larger declines. Smaller altcoins including Optimism (OP), Arbitrum (ARB), Bonk (BONK), and Pepe (PEPE) saw losses exceeding 10%, per Coingecko data.

Core PCE Data in Focus

The personal consumption expenditure (PCE) index, a key inflation indicator, rose 0.15% month-over-month in April. This eased the annual inflation rate slightly to 2.2% from 2.3% in March, according to economists surveyed by FactSet.

The core PCE, which excludes volatile food and energy prices and is the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, is expected to have increased by 0.12% on the month and 2.5% year-over-year.

Should inflation data confirm a continued slowdown, speculation around Federal Reserve rate cuts may intensify, potentially benefiting bitcoin and other digital assets.

“Market participants are keenly watching today’s Core PCE report. A favorable reading could spark renewed bullish momentum,” said Valentin Fournier, Lead Research Analyst at BRN.