Bitcoin Climbs Toward $80K as Inflation Data Meets Expectations

Bitcoin bounced back near $79,000 after inflation figures came in mostly as expected, ahead of a key Fed rate decision next week.

Bitcoin jumped back toward $80,000 on Friday after new U.S. inflation data mostly matched what experts had predicted, calming nervous investors.

The report covered inflation (the rate at which prices for everyday goods rise over time). Here are the key numbers:

Consumer Price Index (CPI) — a measure tracking the average price of common goods — rose 3.4% over the past year and 0.4% over the month, exactly as forecast.
Core inflation (the same measure, but excluding food and energy prices because they change wildly) cooled to 2.4% yearly, the lowest since 2021.
However, the monthly core figure came in at 0.3%, slightly hotter than the 0.2% experts expected — the detail that worried traders.

Why does this matter? Because the Federal Reserve (the U.S. central bank that controls interest rates) meets next week on September 15-16. Interest rates affect how expensive it is to borrow money, and they influence whether investors buy risky assets like crypto. Markets currently see about a 69% chance the Fed will raise rates by a small amount.

Crypto took the news well after an initial dip. Bitcoin briefly fell to $76,040 but then rallied to nearly $79,837 before settling around $79,007 — a 3.24% gain on the day. Other coins joined in:

Ethereum rose 7.48% to reclaim $2,611
Solana climbed 4.53% back above $100
The total crypto market value neared $2.7 trillion

Investor mood improved sharply. The Fear & Greed Index (a gauge of how optimistic or scared traders are) jumped to 73, firmly in "greed" territory.

On the charts, Bitcoin formed an early golden cross — a bullish signal where a short-term price average crosses above a long-term one, often hinting at rising prices ahead. Analysts caution it's not yet confirmed.

The bottom line: Bitcoin bounced despite mixed inflation data, but big institutional money hasn't fully returned yet, and next week's Fed decision could set the next direction.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://decrypt.co/377962/bitcoin-price-cpi-inflation-fed-rate-decision