Bitcoin Tests $81,000 as Rate Hike Fears Linger After Hot Inflation Data

In brief

• Bitcoin dipped to an intraday low under $81,000, extending losses after hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data revived bets on a Fed rate hike.
• HashKey's Tim Sun said slowing demand from spot ETFs and corporate Bitcoin treasuries explains the stalled rally more than macro factors alone.
• Algoz's Stephen Wundke expects Bitcoin to trade between $76,000 and $83,000 for the rest of October unless a clear catalyst emerges.

Bitcoin dipped below $81,000 on Thursday, extending its slide a day after U.S. consumer prices rose faster than expected and revived bets on another Federal Reserve rate hike.

The leading cryptocurrency is currently trading at $81,002, per CoinGecko data, down 2.7% over the past 24 hours and 2.5% over the past week, after slipping to an intraday low of $80,444.

Consumer prices rose 3.7% in the year to September, Decrypt reported on Wednesday. Prices rose 0.6% over the month, the largest monthly increase in five months, driven mainly by energy costs tied to the war with Iran, The New York Times reported.

$84.2k$83.0k$81.8k$80.6k

24h HighHigh$83,791

24h LowLow$80,444

VolVol$1.9B

Market projectionsOdds by Myriad

Traders' odds of a Fed rate hike this month jumped to 43% from 24% after the report, the Times said, though federal funds futures still point to December for the next increase. The Fed raised rates to a range of 3.75% to 4% in September.