Bitcoin, ETH, XRP Drop 1% Following Hot CPI Inflation Print

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) are down 1% as consumer price inflation rose by 3.7% in September.

What the CPI Report Showed

As reported by Benzinga, September inflation came in hotter than forecast across the board:

Bitcoin plunged from around $83,800 to $82,800 in a single five-minute candle following the release, shedding roughly $1,000. 

A brief rebound toward $83,000 failed, and BTC slipped back to around $82,000.

XRP fell just as fast, dropping from around $1.38 to $1.36 in the same five-minute window, wiping out its earlier rally. It trades around $1.34 while ETH changes hands around $2,430.

Why Hougan Calls the Reaction ‘Impressive’

Bitwise’s Matt Hougan posted on X that he expected crypto to drop 3% to 5% once he saw the inflation numbers, before checking prices. 

Widely-followed market commentator pointed out that U.S. bond yields spiked alongside the inflation data, with the 5-year Treasury yield hitting a 19-year high of 5.15%, now sitting 115 basis points above the Fed’s benchmark rate of 3.75% to 4.00%. 

That gap shows bond investors demanding a much higher premium to lend to the US government over five years than the Fed currently charges banks overnight.

What ETF Flows Looked Like Before CPI Hit

U.S. spot ETF data from Tuesday, the session before the inflation report, showed a mixed but mostly positive picture across major crypto assets:

Those inflows came just hours before the CPI print reversed the day’s momentum across both Bitcoin and XRP.

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