Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $80,000 in early Asian Trading on Thursday as accelerating U.S. inflation revived concerns about another Federal Reserve interest rate hike this month. The decline spread across the crypto market, forcing the closure of leveraged positions, CoinDesk reported.
BTC briefly approached $80,000 before rebounding toward $81,500. The recovery faded, leaving Bitcoin below $81,000.
Tokens such as Ether, XRP, and SOL are down 3.5% to 4%.
Important Read: Bitcoin Rebounds Above $83,000 as Korean Stocks and Nasdaq Futures Slide
Inflation Revives Fed Rate Hike Concerns
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that consumer prices increased 3.7% in September from a year earlier, up from 3.4% in August and above economists’ expectations. Prices rose 0.6% during the month. Gasoline climbed 9.1%, accounting for more than half the monthly increase.
Underlying inflation also strengthened. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 2.6% annually, compared with 2.4% in August.
CME FedWatch showed the probability of an October rate increase briefly rising from about 22% to almost 47%, before easing to 26%. A decision to leave rates unchanged therefore remained the market’s favored outcome.
Traditional markets also felt the pressure. Nasdaq futures fell approximately 1%, while South Korea’s KOSPI plunged 8% and triggered circuit breakers, CoinDesk reported.
Ether Leads Market Liquidations
According to CoinGlass, 182,480 traders liquidated in the past 24 hours. Total liquidations were $972.44 million.
The data shows approximately $292 million in Ether liquidations and $202 million in Bitcoin liquidations over 24 hours.
Liquidations happen when traders lack sufficient collateral to maintain leveraged positions, prompting exchanges to close positions automatically. These closures can intensify a decline.
Institutional demand also weakened. Farside Investors reported $261.4 million in U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF outflows on October 14, reversing the previous day’s $175.7 million in inflows. This added another headwind as markets reassessed the Fed outlook.
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