Bitcoin dropped to $72,934 and fell below $73,000 for the first time in ten weeks. Such prices were seen on Coinbase and Kraken. The decline began after the US consumer price report for October.
The consumer price report shows how fast goods and services are becoming more expensive in the country. Prices are rising faster than forecast - the Fed now has a reason to keep rates high or raise them. Expensive money pulls demand away from risky assets, and crypto reacts first.
For a trader, this is a day of sharp moves. Within a single day, BTC traveled the range of $72,934 - $75,328.
How much did the market fall?
- $74,200 - BTC's level before the data release.
- $73,525 - the dip right after the numbers came out.
- About minus 6% over the day and roughly 4.5% over the week.
- ETH - $2,016 (-5.3%), the sell-off hit other major altcoins too.
- The low on Coinbase was almost 1% below Sunday's drawdown.
What did the inflation report show?
Prices rose faster than expected on two measures at once. That is what turned the market.
- The headline index for October added 0.4% versus September, against a forecast of 0.3%.
- The core index - 0.3% versus the expected 0.2%, the third month in a row at this level. Core is calculated excluding food and fuel.
- By category: food +0.5%, energy +0.7%, housing +0.3%.
- The annual figure was not published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics: October data collection was disrupted by last year's government shutdown.
Why did crypto fall harder?
- Liquidations. Within an hour of the numbers coming out, roughly $178 million in leveraged long positions were forcibly closed on the crypto market.
- Outflows from funds. A day earlier, $201 million was withdrawn from US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Through such funds, the asset is bought like a stock.
- Betting on a hawkish Fed. The market strengthened expectations of a rate hike at the December meeting.
What does the Fed say?
Christopher Waller, a member of the Fed's Board of Governors, said in London that he would support a 0.25 percentage point hike in December, and that a move of 0.5 at once "should be considered."
- Almost 15% - the probability of a half-point move, according to market estimates.
- A quarter point remains the base case.
- 3.75-4% - the current rate range.
What does this mean for a trader?
Volatility on BTC and ETH is driven by US data, not by crypto's own news. The report's release moved the price in both directions within a single session.
- Release dates are worth keeping an eye on in the economic calendar.
- Leverage zeroes out an account faster than usual at such moments: about $178 million in positions was wiped out in an hour.
- Position size for such days can be estimated in advance by picking a challenge suited to your market.
What happens next?
- December 8-9 - the Fed's last meeting this year.
- December 10 - the next inflation report comes out, already after the rate decision.
- Markets outside crypto: US two-year Treasury yields rose the most since April 2025, the dollar strengthened, and US stocks opened lower.
Did you trade this dump from $75,300?
Everyone who was at the chart when the numbers came out is analyzing this BTC move. What matters next is account size. The same entry on a thousand-dollar deposit and on a hundred-thousand-dollar account produces a difference of tens of times. In prop trading, the trading volume is provided by the company: you pay for the selection, trade its account within loss limits, and take a share of the profit. Until December 9 and the next such day, there is time to understand how this scheme works.