Bitcoin slides toward $73,500 as hotter-than-expected October CPI cements Fed hike bets

Summary

U.S. consumer prices rose 0.4% in October, above the 0.3% economists expected, while core CPI rose 0.3% against a 0.2% forecast, Decrypt reported, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data; CoinDesk, Cointelegraph and Bitcoin Magazine also reported the 0.4% headline beat.

Bitcoin dropped to about $73,500 after the release: Decrypt put the low near $73,525 and Cointelegraph, citing TradingView, at $73,518, its lowest level since Aug. 21.

The print landed hours after Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he would back a quarter-point hike in December and that a 50-basis-point move should be considered; Cointelegraph said CME FedWatch odds for a 50-point hike rose to 14.7%, while Decrypt, citing Reuters, put them near 15%.

Headline inflation still slowed from September's 0.6% monthly rise, both Decrypt and Cointelegraph noted, and the report carried no year-over-year figure because the 2025 government shutdown halted October data collection that year.

Updates

• Update, Tue, 10 Nov 2026 20:15:00 UTC: Update (Nov. 10): The Block said bitcoin slipped below $74,000 and traded at $73,363, with 21Shares' Matt Mena warning a sustained break below $73,000 could send it toward $69,000. A later Cointelegraph report, citing CME FedWatch at 16:28 UTC, put the odds of a half-point December hike at 11.7% (88.3% for a quarter point), below the 14.7% Cointelegraph cited earlier.

Key facts

• Decrypt: about $178 million in leveraged crypto long positions were liquidated within an hour of the CPI release. (Decrypt)
• Decrypt: U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw another $201 million in net outflows on Monday, and bitcoin had lost about 4.5% over seven days before the report. (Decrypt)
• Cointelegraph: shelter rose 0.3% and accounted for more than 30% of the monthly increase, food rose 0.5%, and energy rose 0.7% after a 5.2% jump in September, citing the BLS release. (Cointelegraph)
• Cointelegraph: economist Robin Brooks called the report "discouraging" and said October was the peak of the year's second big oil price shock. (Cointelegraph)
• Decrypt: the Fed's benchmark rate is 3.75%-4%, its final 2026 meeting is Dec. 8-9, and the next CPI report is due Dec. 10, after that decision. (Decrypt)
• CoinDesk: a December rate hike now appears all but assured, with Waller suggesting even a 50-basis-point move could be appropriate. (CoinDesk)
• The Block: Bitget analyst Lewis Huang called the 200-day moving average near $73,200 a key support level. (The Block)
• Cointelegraph: STS Digital's Jeff Anderson said markets were pricing about 27 basis points of December tightening after the release. (Cointelegraph)

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