Bitcoin Briefly Drops Below $80,000 as Hot September CPI Triggers Nearly $1 Billion in Liquidations

• Bitcoin briefly fell below $80,000 on October 15 for the first time in over a month before recovering above $82,000.
• Nearly $950 million in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated in 24 hours, with long positions accounting for over 90%.
• The sell-off followed U.S. September CPI rising to 3.7% year-over-year and an approximately 8% drop in South Korea’s Kospi index.

Bitcoin briefly slipped below the $80,000 mark on October 15 for the first time in more than a month, as hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data triggered a broad risk-off move across markets.

According to Decrypt, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization touched an intraday low near $79,800 before rebounding to trade around $82,200 later in the session. Ether fell more sharply, dropping over 5% to levels near $2,350 at the lows.

The decline was driven by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report showing the Consumer Price Index rose 3.7% in the 12 months through September, up from 3.4% in August, with core CPI accelerating to 2.6%, as detailed on the official BLS website. The hotter-than-expected print, driven largely by a 9.1% monthly surge in gasoline prices, briefly lifted market-implied odds of an October Federal Reserve rate hike toward nearly 50%, according to CoinDesk.

Forced liquidations magnified the price moves. CoinDesk, citing CoinGlass data checked during Asian morning hours, reported nearly $483 million in bitcoin and ether futures positions liquidated. Broader market liquidations approached $950 million over 24 hours across more than 177,000 traders, with long positions comprising over 90%, per BeInCrypto and Decrypt. Ether led with roughly $280 million to $286 million in liquidations. The largest single order was a $12.03 million bitcoin long position on Binance that was force-closed near $80,209.

The risk-off sentiment extended to traditional markets. South Korea’s Kospi index plunged as much as 8% and closed down about 7.5% at its lowest level since early April, led by double-digit percentage declines in chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as reported by Cointelegraph. Japan’s Nikkei 225 also fell nearly 5% during morning trading. Analysts described the moves as a broad exit from risk assets tied to inflation concerns and AI-related equity profit-taking rather than factors unique to cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin later recovered above $82,000 as Asian equities rebounded and rate-hike probabilities cooled to the mid-20% range. Nonetheless, the episode underscored the market’s sensitivity to macroeconomic data, with U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recording approximately $150 million in outflows on October 14.

Market participants are now focused on the Federal Reserve’s late-October policy meeting for additional signals on the interest-rate trajectory amid persistent inflation pressures.