Bitcoin Falls Below $77,000 After Hotter U.S. Inflation Data
Higher U.S. producer prices put Fed expectations under pressure, with outflows from spot bitcoin ETFs and pressure on altcoins like Solana and XRP.
Key Takeaways
- Bitcoin fell to just below $77,000 on Thursday after U.S. producer prices came in hotter than expected.
- The broader crypto market dropped too, with losses in Zcash, HYPE, Dogecoin, XRP, and Solana among others.
- Higher U.S. bond yields and shifting Fed expectations added extra pressure on risky crypto assets.
Bitcoin fell on Thursday to just below $77,000 (€66,300) after U.S. producer prices rose more than expected in August. That put the price down nearly 2% over 24 hours, while traders adjusted their expectations for next week’s Federal Reserve meeting toward a rate hike.
Broad Sell-Off
The weakness was not limited to Bitcoin. The CoinDesk 20 fell about 3%, and 95 of the CoinDesk 100 closed lower, according to CoinDesk data. Zcash led the losers with a drop of about 12% to around $1,134 (€976). That gave back part of the coin’s strong gains from recent weeks, although Zcash is still about 34% higher on the week and nearly 145% higher over the past month.
Other major tokens also took hits. HYPE fell about 7% to just below $79 (€68), Dogecoin lost around 6%, and XRP dropped about 3% to $1.34 (€1.15). Solana slipped below $100 (€86) and traded just under that level, while Ether held up relatively better with a drop of nearly 2% to around $2,445 (€2,100). BNB fell a little more than 1% to around $710 (€611). Tron was the exception and stayed flat at 34 cents.
Rates and Yields Weigh On Markets
The market reacted to higher rate expectations, but also to the broader move in bonds. The 30-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed to its highest level in 19 years, while the 10-year yield moved toward 5% and the 2-year yield rose above 4.5%. That makes safe government bonds more attractive and at the same time raises financing costs for risky positions.
Bitget analyst Lewis Huang had already pointed to $76,270 (€65,700) as an important technical support level for Bitcoin. The coin is now less than $800 (€689) above that point. Spot bitcoin ETFs also showed the tension: on Wednesday, there was $120 million (€103 million) in outflows, according to the cited data, more than on Tuesday, while ether, XRP, and solana funds saw inflows that same day. That fits the picture of a broader pullback in altcoins, with the market quickly taking profits after the recent rally.
Why This Matters For Europe
For European crypto investors, this matters mainly because U.S. rate expectations often feed quickly into the whole crypto market. If the Fed does take a tougher tone next week, that could also affect sentiment around Bitcoin and major altcoins outside the U.S. The mix of higher yields, a stronger dollar, and weaker stocks could make crypto trading on European platforms extra choppy.
