Bitcoin dips below $80,000 for the first time in a month after hot US wholesale inflation, back near $82,100

Bitcoin price today: the world's biggest cryptocurrency fell below $80,000 on Thursday for the first time in a month, CoinDesk reported, before recovering. By 6:40am PKT on Friday it was trading near $82,143, according to the reading on our bitcoin price page. At the interbank rate of Rs 276.92 to the dollar, that is about Rs 22.7 million for one bitcoin, against roughly Rs 22.2 million at the $80,000 mark.

Why bitcoin fell

The trigger was US inflation data. The US producer price index (PPI), which tracks what businesses pay for goods and services, rose 6.3% in the year to September, against the 5.3% markets expected, Cointelegraph reported. It was the biggest 12-month rise since December 2022. Core PPI, which strips out food and energy, rose 5% against an expected 4.4%. A day earlier the consumer price index had also come in above forecasts.

Hot inflation numbers make it harder for the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, and that tends to weigh on assets such as bitcoin and technology stocks. Thursday was also a bad day for chip and AI shares: South Korea's KOSPI fell 7.5%, Cointelegraph noted, as the global tech selloff continued.

Bitcoin's dip took it to its lowest level since 18 September. Economist Mohamed El-Erian called the PPI result "even more striking" than the CPI one.

Levels traders are watching

Analysts quoted by Cointelegraph pointed to a few numbers:

• $82,500 to $82,800: a support zone bitcoin has been fighting to hold.
• Around $83,700: the latest weekly close.
• $78,459 and $76,144: the 50-week and 21-week exponential moving averages, long-term trend lines that analyst Rekt Capital said bitcoin has dipped below in past early-stage bull markets before bouncing.
• $75,000: the level chart analyst Aksel Kibar named as the point where his bullish pattern would fail. A weekly close inside the current range, he said, could mean more sideways trade between $60,000 and $82,800.

These are opinions, not forecasts, and crypto prices can move several per cent in an hour.

Ether and the rest

Ether was at about $2,433 (around Rs 673,900) on Friday morning, according to our ether price page, after a run of liquidations earlier in the week that we covered on Thursday. Altcoins fell harder than bitcoin during the Asian session, CoinDesk reported.

What it means for you

If you hold crypto through an international exchange, the rupee value of your holdings depends on two things at once: the coin's dollar price and the dollar rate. Check both on our dollar rate page and convert any amount with the currency converter. Crypto is volatile and is not a deposit: do not put in money you will need for rent, fees or bills.