Bitcoin price targets range from $19K to $25K as CPI day dawns

cointelegraph.com:

Bitcoin (BTC) saw ongoing rejection below $22,000 into Feb. 14 as markets braced for macroeconomic data impact.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD failing to expand beyond $21,800 ahead of the United States Consumer Price Index (CPI) print for January.

Already called the “most important” CPI release, the data, due at 8:30am Eastern Time, is a classic volatility catalyst for risk assets.

Crypto market participants thus expected a busy trading day, with both $19,000 and $25,000 on the table as potential targets depending on how far the results stay from estimates.

“Will probably see that $24-25k Bitcoin pump if tomorrow morning's CPI number shows more disinflation in the positive direction,” Venturefounder, a contributor at on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant, wrote in part of a Twitter update.

Year-on-year CPI was expected at 6.2% versus 6.4% the month prior, with the month-on-month reading due an uptick to 0.5% from 0.1%.

“Relatively high expectations if you combine this with the previous trend,” Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, argued on the day.

Van de Poppe was already betting on the "end stage" of Bitcoin's current retracement, with $20,500 the key level for bulls to hold.

In its latest market update, meanwhile, trading firm QCP Capital flagged factors beyond the data as cause for concern for crypto investors.

Related: Bitcoin flirts with bid liquidity as BTC price nears new 3-week lows

The ongoing legal proceedings against Blockchain firm Paxos and exchange Binance’s BUSD stablecoin, it warned, could be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to U.S. regulatory policy.

“As the regulatory hammer is still out against the industry