Bitcoin Price Tackles $26.8K Focal Point as CPI Rises

Bitcoin (BTC) is still hovering around the essential $26,800 level ahead of the Oct. 12 Wall Street opening, as US inflation figures kept on exceeding expectations.

BTC price reacts as CPI surpasses predictions

The Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView data showed that BTC price volatility remained stable after hitting two-week lows the day before, due to the US macroeconomic data suggesting that inflation is still on the rise.

The September Consumer Price Index (CPI) report backed up this trend, coming in at 3.7% year-on-year against the expected 3.6%. The figure was even higher at 4.1% when excluding food and energy costs, which matched the forecast.

The Kobeissi Letter, a financial commentary resource, noted the difficult situation in which monetary policy and the Federal Reserve now find themselves: “We have PCE and PPI inflation rising with CPI inflation above expectations.”

The idea of “higher for longer” when it comes to US interest rates is expected to have a negative impact on risk assets, including cryptocurrencies. Despite the CPI results, the odds of the Fed raising rates further at the next FOMC meeting on November 1 were still low, at 7.4%, according to data from the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.

Analyst on Bitcoin vs. macro: “Bad = bad”

Market participants, already wary of Bitcoin, had no reason to anticipate a rapid rise in the near future.

Notably, trader Skew identified $26,800 as the area where bulls could turn the situation around.

Data from Material Indicators showed that bids were not present above $24,750, a key point in the last two quarters.

“It’s been a while since we’ve discussed whether good = good or good = bad for BTC price,” co-founder Keith Alan commented on the macro aspect ahead of CPI.

QCP Capital, a trading company, noted the “unabated” decline of Bitcoin and Ether (ETH), even though there were potential bullish factors in Q4.

“Hopefully the relative underperformance of BTC and ETH to the upside now also mean their beta is lower to the downside as well, should CPI come in stronger than expected,” the organization wrote in a market update earlier in the day.