The rally took Bitcoin ( BTC ) to $18,800, up 7% on the day, its highest level since a gap down in early November as cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed. With today's gains, Bitcoin is up about 14% so far in 2023 as it looks to recover from the 2022 bear market. Earlier on Thursday, the government reported that U.S. consumer price index fell to 6.5% in December from 7.1% the previous month, in line with economists' forecasts and potentially setting the stage for the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates from a pace of 50 per meeting in December. The reduction in basis points to 25 basis points paves the way (previously 75 basis points).