$Why Is Bitcoin Down Today?

Bitcoin’s price dip today appears to have been set off by strong U.S. factory data that sent the U.S. dollar index above 105.00 for the first time in almost five months.

The U.S. dollar index measures the strength of the U.S. dollar against other major global currencies, such as the Japanese yen (JPY), British pound (GBP), the euro (EUR) and more. This morning’s climb over 105.00 shows the dollar is strengthening with respect to other global currencies.

Yesterday, the Institute for Supply Management released the March purchasing managers’ index, or PMI, which came in at 50.3%, up 2.5 percentage points from February’s reading of 47.8%.

Stronger U.S. factory data could lead to stronger U.S. exports, which would help the dollar’s strength against other global currencies. A stronger dollar could hinder bitcoin’s recent strong performance.