Cryptoupdated 1h ago2 min read
Bitcoin Slides Under $81,000 After Hotter U.S. Inflation Report Boosts Rate Hike Odds
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Bitcoin briefly fell below $81,000 before rebounding above $81,000, approaching $83,000. U.S. inflation data boosted rate-hike odds to the mid-20s to low-30s range.
8 outlets told this the same way.
CPI Shock, Bitcoin Slips
Bitcoin slipped under $81,000 after a hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation report briefly lifted it to nearly $84,000, then sent it sliding to about $80,400 early Thursday.
Core inflation rose to 2.6% against a 2.5% forecast, and the hot print made another Federal Reserve rate hike more likely, a setup that weighed on assets like bitcoin.
Bitcoin traded under $81,000, down 2.6% over 24 hours, while ZEC led crypto losses down 11% to about $1,100 and Ether dropped 5% to about $2,370.
The market also focused on the Fed meeting on Oct. 27–28, and the selloff intensified as AI stocks pressured sentiment, with Nasdaq 100 futures falling 1.2% after Anthropic told prospective investors its revenue grew $16.8 billion in the third quarter.
A daily close below $80,400 would break the floor buyers have defended twice since last Thursday, according to CoinDesk’s live market framing.
Liquidations and Rate Bets
South Korea’s Kospi plunged 8% and triggered circuit breakers, while Nasdaq 100 index futures slid about 1%, and bitcoin recovered to about $81,200 after falling to just above $80,000 around 02:30 UTC. CME’s FedWatch moved the odds of an October Federal Reserve interest-rate increase to roughly 26% from about 47% after Wednesday’s hotter-than-expected inflation report, and the shift left Treasury yields and hike pricing as the next signals heading into the U.S. open. Derivatives positioning showed forced selling, with liquidations jumping to nearly $1 billion over 24 hours after the hot inflation print, and the spike reflected crowded positioning.
Ether took a heavier hit than bitcoin, with longs worth $200 million liquidated in ether versus $115 million in bitcoin, and the difference pointed to heavier long leverage in ether. CoinDesk also tied the volatility to options demand, noting that Bitcoin’s implied volatility was holding above 40% with the BVIV index just above 40% for the second straight day.
Miners, AI Stocks, and Fallout
Bitcoin miners fell up to 12.6% after September CPI came in at 3.7% and October Fed hike odds roughly doubled, with the dollar spiking to an 18-month high. TeraWulf fell 12.64% on Wednesday, Core Scientific fell 12.44%, Cipher Mining fell 12.35%, and IREN fell 12.2%, as the selloff spread from Wall Street into crypto-linked equities. The S&P 500 fell 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.9%, their biggest one-day declines since July 29 and July 23, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1%.
“I don’t feel urgent that we have to decide with a limited set of information.”
Carson Group’s Sonu Varghese said, "The only surprise is that investors keep getting surprised by broad-based inflation," and he added, "And we've yet to see the full impact of higher diesel prices and the AI boom." Fed messaging also shaped the next leg of risk pricing, and Mary Daly said the central bank could wait for a clearer picture ahead of the 27-28 October meeting, with the article quoting Daly: "I don’t feel urgent that we have to decide with a limited set of information."