Crypto

Bitcoin Falls Below $73,000 for the First Time Since August as Hot CPI Fuels Fed Hike Bets

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Bitcoin price chart falling below $73,000 on a trading screen, illustrating the cryptocurrency's drop to its lowest level since August after a hot October inflation report

Bitcoin fell below $73,000 on Tuesday, November 10, for the first time since August, as a hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation report convinced traders that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its December meeting. The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped to its weakest level since August 20, extending a slide that has now erased more than 40 percent of its value from last month’s record high.

Bitcoin slipped about 1 percent to roughly $73,600 in the minutes after the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the October consumer price index at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. It kept falling through the session, and by late in the day it had broken below $73,000, taking out another low for the current cycle, according to CoinDesk’s live market coverage. By Tuesday evening it was trading near $73,800, still down about 3 percent over the previous 24 hours at its weakest point of the day.

The rest of the crypto market fell harder. Ether, XRP and Solana each dropped close to 6 percent during Tuesday’s session, CoinDesk reported, while the CoinDesk 20 index of the largest cryptocurrencies lost 1.2 percent. Gold also retreated, slipping below $4,100 an ounce as bond yields surged and the dollar firmed.

Hot inflation changed the Fed’s math

The trigger was the October inflation data. U.S. consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in October, topping the 0.3 percent increase economists had expected, while core prices, which strip out food and energy, climbed 0.3 percent against a 0.2 percent forecast. It was the last inflation reading the Fed will see before its December 8-9 meeting, and it arrived hot on both the headline and core measures.

Traders responded by pricing in a December rate increase with near certainty. Before the report, interest-rate traders had put the odds of the Fed holding rates steady next month at more than 30 percent. After the data, those odds fell to zero, CoinDesk reported. Markets are now pricing 25 basis points of tightening for December 9, which would take the target range to 4.00 to 4.25 percent, with a roughly 15 percent chance of a larger 50-basis-point move, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller had already pushed expectations in that direction. In remarks overnight, Waller said he favored a December increase even if inflation cooled, and warned that a hot report could justify a 50-basis-point move. The bond market took the message seriously: the 10-year Treasury yield jumped more than 15 basis points to 5.02 percent, and the more Fed-sensitive 2-year yield rose 21 basis points to 4.76 percent.

Higher rates are a headwind for Bitcoin because they raise the return on safe assets such as Treasury bonds, making speculative holdings less attractive. They also tighten financial conditions more broadly, draining the liquidity that helped drive crypto prices higher through much of the year. Stocks felt the same pressure on Tuesday: the Nasdaq fell 1.1 percent in mid-morning trading, led by a 6 percent drop in Nvidia, which has now lost more than 30 percent from its early-October peak.

ETF outflows add to the pressure

Bitcoin’s decline is not only about interest rates. Money has been leaving the U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds for days. The funds lost a net $201 million on Monday, according to Farside Investors data cited by CoinDesk, led by $213.2 million of outflows from BlackRock’s IBIT, which has now posted seven straight sessions of redemptions.

That steady selling matters because ETF flows were one of the main engines of Bitcoin’s rally earlier this year. When the funds were taking in money through the spring and summer, they provided a constant source of demand. Now the flow has reversed, and the funds have become a source of selling pressure at the same time that traders are reassessing the path of interest rates.

Public companies have also been selling. Fourteen listed companies sold a combined 108,247 Bitcoin in 2026, worth about $8.08 billion, according to data from Lookonchain cited by CoinDesk. Mining company MARA led the way, selling 40,581 Bitcoin at an average price of $74,446, followed by Riot Platforms with 20,264 Bitcoin at $73,231. Together the two miners accounted for roughly 56 percent of the total.

The selling has already produced one violent washout. More than $1 billion in crypto positions were liquidated over the weekend of November 8-9, including $913 million of bets on higher prices, according to CoinGlass data reported by CoinDesk, after Bitcoin fell to about $73,761 late on November 8, its lowest level since August at the time.

A volatile year, and an awkward anniversary

Tuesday’s drop caps a year of sharp swings for Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency crashed to about $60,000 in February, rebounded above $82,000 by mid-May, fell back to $60,000 by the end of June, and then climbed to the mid-$80,000 area by late September. Since then it has been sliding steadily, and it now sits roughly 42 percent below its all-time high of $126,156, reached in October 2025.

The timing carries an awkward coincidence. Tuesday marked exactly five years since Bitcoin first touched $69,000 on November 10, 2021, the peak of the last bull market. Five years on, the price is only about $4,500 higher than that milestone, CoinDesk noted, prompting some market watchers to lament a lost half-decade for the world’s largest cryptocurrency. Others pointed out that an investor who bought at the 2021 top and then invested the same amount once a month since would have earned about a 22 percent annual return, ahead of a similar strategy in the S&P 500 at about 17 percent.

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Technically, traders are watching the 200-day moving average near $73,150, which CoinDesk identified as a key support level. Bitcoin’s weekend low held just above it, but Tuesday’s break below $73,000 puts that line in question. If the level gives way, analysts say the next test could be far lower: Bitcoin has already made two trips to $60,000 this year, and CoinDesk’s live coverage openly asked whether a third trip is in the cards.

Why this matters

For American investors, the selloff is a reminder of how tightly crypto is now tied to the same forces that move stocks and bonds. Bitcoin no longer trades in isolation. It reacts to inflation data, Fed speeches and Treasury yields in much the same way as the Nasdaq, and the same exchange-traded funds that brought it into mainstream portfolios can pull money out just as quickly.

The December Fed meeting is now the next big test. If the central bank raises rates by 25 basis points as markets expect, or by 50 if officials want to send a stronger message, borrowing costs will rise further and the pressure on risk assets could intensify. If the Fed surprises by holding steady, crypto could find some relief. Either way, the October inflation report has removed the easy path: the market no longer expects the Fed to look through sticky prices.

The broader crypto industry, meanwhile, continues to build. The NYSE’s tokenized-stock platform, announced this week, aims to settle tokenized shares around the clock using Avalanche technology, and the Dow jumped 1,104 points on Monday on hopes that the war with Iran is winding down. But for now, the market’s attention is on the Fed, and on whether Bitcoin can hold the line above $73,000.

Latest developments

  • Bitcoin fell below $73,000 on Tuesday, its lowest since August, after the October CPI report came in hotter than expected.
  • The CPI rose 0.4 percent in October, above the 0.3 percent forecast, with core prices up 0.3 percent against a 0.2 percent forecast. No year-over-year figure was published because last October’s government shutdown prevented price collection.
  • Traders now price in a December Fed rate hike with near certainty, with a roughly 15 percent chance of a 50-basis-point move, per CME FedWatch.
  • U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs lost $201 million on Monday, led by BlackRock’s IBIT, its seventh straight session of outflows.
  • The 10-year Treasury yield rose above 5 percent and the 2-year yield climbed to 4.76 percent.
  • Ether, XRP and Solana each fell close to 6 percent on Tuesday.

Frequently asked questions

Why did Bitcoin fall below $73,000?
Bitcoin dropped after the October U.S. inflation report came in hotter than expected, with consumer prices up 0.4 percent against a 0.3 percent forecast. The data pushed traders to price in a Federal Reserve rate hike in December, which lifted bond yields and weighed on risk assets including crypto. Steady outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs added to the selling pressure.

What is the lowest Bitcoin has traded this year?
Bitcoin fell to about $60,000 in February and again in late June, before rebounding. Tuesday’s drop below $73,000 is its lowest since August, but it remains well above this year’s lows. Its all-time high of $126,156 was reached in October 2025.

Are spot Bitcoin ETFs still seeing outflows?
Yes. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs lost a net $201 million on Monday, November 9, according to Farside Investors, led by $213.2 million of outflows from BlackRock’s IBIT. It was IBIT’s seventh consecutive session of redemptions.

When will the Fed decide on interest rates?
The Federal Reserve’s final meeting of the year is December 8-9. Markets are pricing in a 25-basis-point rate increase, with a roughly 15 percent chance of a larger 50-basis-point move, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Bitcoin’s break below $73,000 leaves the market at a crossroads. The cryptocurrency has held its 200-day average so far, but with the Fed now all but certain to raise rates in December and ETF money still flowing out, traders will be watching closely to see whether this is another dip to buy or the start of a deeper slide toward $60,000.

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