Bitcoin Tumbles to $58K as US Inflation Hits 3-Year High

Bitcoin just fell to its lowest price in 21 months, sliding all the way down to around $58,000 — a level it hasn't seen since September 2024.

The drop happened after the US released worrying inflation data. Inflation simply means how fast prices for everyday things (like food and gas) are rising. When inflation is high, your money buys less, and investors get nervous.

The key number came from the PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) index — a major report the US government uses to measure inflation. It came in at 4.1%, the highest in three years. In simple terms, prices are rising much faster than people hoped.

Here are the key facts:

• Bitcoin fell to $58,035, its lowest since September 2024
• US PCE inflation hit 4.1% — a 3-year record
• The Nasdaq 100 (an index tracking big US tech stocks) dropped 2% in just 30 minutes
• Crypto liquidations topped $600 million in a single hour

What's a liquidation? Many traders borrow money to bet that prices will go up (called a "long" position). When the price drops sharply instead, their bets are automatically closed and they lose their money. $600 million worth of these bets were wiped out in just one hour.

Stocks reacted nervously too. While the S&P 500 (an index of 500 big US companies) managed a small gain, tech-heavy indexes took a hard hit.

Some traders even claimed the sudden price moves looked like "manipulation" — meaning they suspect big players may have pushed prices around on purpose to trigger those liquidations.

The bottom line: High inflation makes investors cautious, and risky assets like Bitcoin often fall first. With prices echoing the painful 2022 bear market and $65,000 now seen as a tough ceiling ("resistance") to break, traders are bracing for more volatility ahead.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://cointelegraph.com/markets/bitcoin-drops-to-58-on-pce-highs?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss