Bitcoin Falls Below $82K as Hot CPI Revives Fed Rate Hike Bets

Bitcoin fell below $82,000 on Wednesday after stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation revived expectations of another Federal Reserve interest rate increase, putting renewed pressure on cryptocurrency markets. September’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.7% from a year earlier, exceeding the 3.6% consensus forecast and accelerating from 3.4% in August. The report pushed Treasury yields higher and prompted traders to increase their bets on tighter monetary policy. The cryptocurrency market lost approximately 2.28% of its value over 24 hours, bringing total capitalization to $2.74 trillion, according to a CoinMarketCap . Bitcoin’s decline was relatively contained compared with losses across several major altcoins.