Bitcoin fell below $77,000 as a stronger-than-expected U.S. producer price report intensified concerns about a more hawkish Federal Reserve. BTC declined nearly 2% over 24 hours and is now down more than 5% over the past week.
August producer prices rose 5.4%, beating the 5.1% forecast and sending 30-year Treasury yields to their highest level in 19 years. The broader crypto market suffered heavier losses, with the CoinDesk 20 falling about 3% and 95 of the CoinDesk 100 assets ending lower.
The latest inflation figures prompted traders to raise their expectations for a potential Fed rate hike at next week’s policy meeting.
Zcash led the major cryptocurrency declines, falling roughly 12% to around $1,134. The pullback erased part of its recent rally, although Zcash remains about 34% higher over the past seven days and nearly 145% above its level a month ago.
Hyperliquid’s HYPE dropped around 7% to just under $79, bringing its weekly decline to approximately 10%. Dogecoin fell about 6% to 8 cents, while XRP declined roughly 3% to $1.34 and is down nearly 7% over the past week. Solana also lost more than 3%, slipping below $100.
Ether declined nearly 2% to approximately $2,445, limiting its weekly loss to less than 3%. BNB slipped slightly more than 1% to around $710. Tron was the only major cryptocurrency to remain unchanged, holding near 34 cents and maintaining a weekly gain of more than 3%.
Bitget analyst Lewis Huang had highlighted $76,270 as an important technical support level for bitcoin. With BTC now trading below $77,000, the market is less than $800 away from that key threshold.
Oil prices added another layer of inflation pressure. Brent crude jumped more than 6% to above $107 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate moved close to $102. Higher energy costs could further complicate the Federal Reserve’s inflation outlook.
Bond yields also advanced, with the 10-year Treasury yield moving toward 5% and the two-year yield climbing above 4.5%.
Gold declined toward $4,330, while the dollar index strengthened near 99. The S&P 500 fell to around 7,594, recording its fourth consecutive decline. Asian markets also weakened, with Japan down nearly 2%, South Korea falling more than 3% and Hong Kong losing close to 1%.
Higher real yields can weigh on cryptocurrencies by making government bonds more attractive relative to non-yielding assets such as bitcoin. They also increase the cost of maintaining leveraged positions, adding another source of pressure on risk assets.
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $120 million in outflows on Wednesday, more than double the previous day’s figure. Ether, XRP and solana funds, however, registered inflows during the same session.
The August CPI report is due at 8:30 a.m. ET, with headline inflation expected at 3.4% year over year and core inflation projected at 2.4%.
Interest-rate futures are now pricing in nearly a 70% chance of a rate hike at the Sept. 15-16 Fed meeting, compared with roughly 50% two weeks earlier.
“Markets are already positioned for a more hawkish Fed and a likely rate increase,” said Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group.
With bitcoin having remained above $76,270 since the start of its August rally, that level could become a crucial test if selling pressure intensifies.
