Bitcoin Price Tanks Again as September US CPI Data Tops Expectations

BTC's price was already under pressure ahead of the key announcement.

In an unprecedented announcement from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the official Consumer Price Index numbers for October exceeded expectations. The actual data showed a 0.4% increase in the headline CPI and 0.3% in the Core CPI, which excludes energy and food.

Before today’s release, experts speculated that the October reading would show a 0.3% month-over-month increase, while Core CPI was expected at 0.2%. What was particularly interesting about today’s announcement is that it came without year-over-year numbers, as the BLS said that missing data from the October 2025 government shutdown “prevents reliable annual comparison.”

“What you will see in ​the data is further evidence of stubborn and sticky inflation, especially in the service sector,” said Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, before the reading went live. “That will result in a December ​rate hike, and I do not expect the October CPI data to dislodge the Fed from that monetary path.”

Recall that the September CPI data showed a major uptick of 3.7% YoY, which was slightly higher than the estimated 3.6%. BTC reacted at the time with an immediate nosedive as expectations for a Fed rate hike rose but didn’t materialize in October.

The current reaction has been equally volatile, and odds of the US central bank raising rates at the last FOMC meeting of the year are well above 90%.

The cryptocurrency’s price was already struggling to remain above $74,000, but the reading pushed it well below that level as it currently sits at multi-month levels at $73,600.