Bitcoin recovered modestly to $81,200 after falling below $81,000 during early trading. Selling pressure following the latest U.S. inflation data weighed on both cryptocurrencies and Asian equities. Total crypto liquidations reached $951.4 million over the past 24 hours.
Bitcoin traded at $80,764 early on Thursday, October 15, before recovering some of its losses. However, the move back above $81,000 was insufficient to erase the earlier decline. Ethereum and other major altcoins also suffered steep losses during morning trading.
The sell-off centered on the implications of stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation for Federal Reserve policy. Losses that began on Wall Street continued into the Asian session as technology stocks fell. Investors’ retreat from risk spread across multiple asset classes.
Bitcoin Recovers Above $81,000
Bitcoin was down 3.6% over the previous 24 hours when it traded at $80,764 early in the session. The price later climbed to $81,200, recovering approximately 0.54% from that level. Despite the rebound, the world’s largest cryptocurrency remained under pressure.
Bitcoin had fallen below $82,000 in the previous session following the U.S. inflation release. Further selling during Asian trading pushed it below $81,000. A subsequent modest recovery brought the price back above that threshold.
Ethereum fell 6.5% to $2,353 during morning trading. Its daily decline exceeded Bitcoin’s by 2.9 percentage points over the same period. The gap showed that the second-largest cryptocurrency faced heavier selling pressure.
Losses also spread across other major altcoins. Zcash dropped 12.8% to $1,101, while Solana fell 4.8% and XRP lost 4.7%. Zcash’s double-digit decline was the sharpest among these assets.
Asian Equities Suffer Heavy Losses
South Korea’s Kospi index slid 8% during Thursday’s morning session, leading regional losses. Shares in chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell more than 9%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 also declined 5.2%.
The regional sell-off followed overnight losses in U.S. markets. Stronger-than-expected core inflation fueled concerns about the Fed’s interest rate outlook. Weakness in technology stocks carried over into Asian morning trading.
According to Zeus Research analyst Dominick John, the simultaneous declines in crypto and Asian equities reflected a broader retreat from risk. John said weakness in U.S. technology stocks had spread to both markets. The parallel declines therefore did not necessarily mean that one market directly triggered losses in the other.
The analyst also pointed to annual U.S. inflation reaching 3.7%, exceeding expectations. In John’s assessment, the reading renewed concerns that interest rates would remain elevated for longer. Those expectations added pressure to risk assets.
Long Liquidations Reach $876 Million
According to CoinGlass data, crypto liquidations totaled $951.4 million over the past 24 hours. Long positions, which traders open in anticipation of rising prices, accounted for $876.3 million. That represented approximately 92% of total liquidations.
The breakdown showed that the decline disproportionately affected traders using leverage to bet on further gains. Liquidations outside long positions totaled approximately $75.1 million. Rapid price declines placed particular pressure on highly leveraged trades.
Liquidation figures do not represent the total amount of money leaving the crypto market. They measure leveraged positions forcibly closed when collateral becomes insufficient to keep trades open. The $951.4 million total therefore highlights the sell-off’s impact on derivatives markets.
Bitcoin’s recovery to $81,200 offered some relief compared with its early-morning level. However, altcoin losses, falling Asian equities and elevated liquidations illustrated the breadth of the selling pressure. U.S. inflation and expectations for Federal Reserve policy remained central to market pricing.
