Bitcoin price falls toward $81,500 after September CPI report

Bitcoin shed as much as 2.3% on Wednesday, touching around $81,500, as September inflation data showed consumer prices accelerating.

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.6% in September on a seasonally adjusted basis after a 0.4% increase in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The annual rate reached 3.7%, up from 3.4% in the 12 months ended in August. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.3% on the month and 2.6% over the year, up from 2.4%. Gasoline prices rose 9.1% in September and accounted for more than half of the monthly increase.

Economist forecasts called for annual inflation of 3.6%, annual core inflation of 2.5% and monthly core inflation of 0.2%, according to CoinDesk.

Chipmaker shares weighed on the Nasdaq $NDAQ 100, which slid as much as 2%, while the dollar climbed to its strongest point since May 2025 and traders ramped up expectations for additional Federal Reserve rate hikes, according to Bloomberg. Ether, XRP and Solana each fell close to 3%.

The decline came against a shift in analyst sentiment. CryptoQuant's 30-day analyst consensus index for bitcoin rose to plus 49.2 from minus 18.3 in July, and the share of bullish analysts climbed to 84% from 37%, according to Bloomberg. Bitcoin remains more than 30% below its record high, Bloomberg said in the same report.