Bitcoin briefly drops below 80,000 dollars after hot US inflation data
Bitcoin fell to 79,694 dollars on 15 October 2026 after the US CPI surprise, then rebounded above 82,000. Over 929 million dollars of leveraged positions were liquidated.
Bitcoin fell below 80,000 dollars in the early hours of Thursday 15 October 2026, touching an intraday low of 79,694 dollars shortly before 4 a.m. New York time, before rebounding to about 82,500 dollars later in the day, according to Bitcoin.com News.
The drop followed the US consumer price report for September, which showed inflation rising to 3.7% a year, above expectations, and briefly pushed market-implied odds of a Federal Reserve rate increase in October close to 50%. Surging oil prices added to the pressure.
The move forced the closure of more than 929 million dollars of leveraged positions across crypto markets, about 777 million of them bets on rising prices. On 17 October bitcoin traded around 81,500 dollars, well below the record of about 126,000 dollars it set in October 2025.
Why it matters: bitcoin now reacts to interest rate expectations much like technology stocks do. When inflation surprises on the upside and yields rise, assets that pay no income tend to lose appeal, and leverage amplifies the fall.