Bitcoin Falls Below $74,000 After Hot October Inflation

Bitcoin fell below $74,000 after U.S. consumer prices rose more than economists expected in October, prompting a selloff that liquidated leveraged crypto positions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday that the Consumer Price Index increased 0.4% from September, compared with a 0.3% forecast. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.3%, above the 0.2% forecast and matching September’s increase.

Bitcoin briefly dropped to about $73,525 immediately after the release, according to market reports, before recovering some ground toward $74,000. One report recorded a later intraday low of $72,787. The reported price points refer to different observation periods; Bitcoin remained below $74,000 in accounts of the market reaction.

Liquidation estimates also cover different periods. About $178 million in leveraged crypto long positions were liquidated within an hour of the announcement, while another report put liquidations at about $200 million in the five minutes after the release. Long positions are bets on rising prices made with borrowed funds; exchanges may close them when losses leave insufficient collateral.

The inflation figures strengthened market attention on...