Bitcoin fell below $80,000 on Thursday as hotter-than-expected inflation data triggered nearly $1 billion in crypto liquidations. Long positions made up 90.6% of the liquidations. An analyst says Bitcoin now sits below the average cost of U.S. spot ETF holders.
Bitcoin fell below $80,000 on Thursday for the first time in over a month, extending Wednesday's inflation-driven slide and wiping out nearly $1 billion in leveraged crypto bets. It was trading at about $82,000 after several hours of increased volatility.
Ethereum and XRP dropped close to 5%, Zcash sank almost 10%, and only five coins in the top 100 gained more than 1%.
Longs take most of the $948.22 million in liquidations
Across the market, 177,440 traders were liquidated in 24 hours for $948.22 million, according to CoinGlass. Longs accounted for $858.96 million, or 90.6%.
Ethereum led with $282.03 million in liquidations, and Bitcoin followed at a little over $200 million. The largest single order was a $12.03 million Bitcoin long on Binance, force-closed at $80,208.96.
Hot CPI and PPI revive Fed hike bets
The trigger was Wednesday's report showing consumer prices up 3.7% year over year in September against a 3.6% forecast. Core inflation came in at 2.6% against 2.5%.
Thursday's Producer Price Index then rose 6.3% annually versus a 5.5% forecast. Much of the pressure comes from oil, with Brent crude near $104 a barrel, about 70% above a year ago amid the war between the U.S. and Iran.
ETF holders back underwater
Iliya Kalchev, an analyst at Nexo, reads the move as a broad exit from risk more than a Fed story. He says Bitcoin is now roughly 2% below the average cost of U.S. spot ETF holders, near $82,300. According to Kalchev: "reclaiming it is the first test of any rebound".
On the daily chart, Bitcoin broke below $81,603 and reached $79,711 before buyers pulled the price back near $80,925. The Relative Strength Index fell to about 44.
A daily close back above $81,603 would reopen the path to $84,245, while losing $80,286 would expose $78,002 as the next support. The Fed announces its rate decision on October 28.
Source: Decrypt
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