Why Bitcoin and Ether Are Falling: The Crypto Selloff

The crypto market is still falling, but the driver has changed. The total capitalisation of all crypto assets stood at $2.76 trillion on Wednesday afternoon, 4.50 percent below its level 24 hours earlier. Bitcoin trades at $81,712 after a daily high of $84,025, Ether at $2,420 after $2,525. The trigger was the US consumer price index for September: it landed on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. German time and came in above forecast.

What sets this day apart from the ones before it changes the outlook for the days ahead. On October 12 and 13 leverage was the driver, and forced selling on the futures market accelerated every downward move. That borrowed money is now largely out of the market, and liquidations have shrunk to less than a third. What weighs today is a reversed rate expectation meeting demand that has only just steadied.

The market loses 4.50 percent of its value in 24 hours

The move is broad. Of the 25 largest crypto assets, 20 remain once stablecoins and tokenised credit products are stripped out, and 17 of those are down. The median daily loss across those 20 is 3.37 percent. cryptoticker.io compiled this analysis itself on October 14, 2026, drawing on CoinGecko market data for the 25 largest crypto assets.