Bitcoin slips to $73,344.71 as US inflation and Fed rate-hike talk cool risk appetite
Bitcoin slipped below the $74,000 mark on 12 November, trading at $73,344.71, down 0.4% over the past 24 hours, with a market capitalisation of $1.47 trillion, down 0.35%, according to CoinMarketCap data. That is a slight improvement from $72,695 on 10 November, its lowest level in around three months.
The pressure traces to the United States, where a faster-than-estimated rise in inflation and signals that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates pushed down appetite for risk assets such as cryptocurrencies. Ethereum traded at $2,044.40, down 0.49% on the day, with a market cap of $249.85 billion. Bitcoin held 60.5% of the market, Ethereum 10.2%, and the total crypto market cap stood at $2.43 trillion, down 0.78%.
Nischal Shetty, founder of WazirX, said stronger US equities and lower volatility offered some support, but persistent inflation, a stronger dollar and continued ETF withdrawals kept participation measured. Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, said the crypto market cap fell below $2.45 trillion, its lowest since August, and argued that interest in AI amid Anthropic's IPO is drawing risk capital away from crypto, while accelerating CPI, strong US jobs figures and the possibility of a 50-basis-point Fed hike in December hurt crypto and precious metals more than equities.
On levels, Shetty put immediate Bitcoin support at $73,100-$73,300, then $71,800-$72,000, with sustained closes through $75,000-$75,700 needed to improve momentum. Prateek Gupta, head of business at Mudrex, said Bitcoin needs to reclaim $75,000 while $72,000 remains key support, and the CoinSwitch Markets Desk said $73,000 is the near-term support level, with $75,000-$76,000 important for recovery.
Riya Sehgal, research analyst at Delta Exchange, said markets will now focus on the upcoming US PPI release for further inflation signals, adding that weak price structures and macroeconomic uncertainty keep the short-term outlook cautious. Kuptsikevich said Bitcoin simply holding current levels is insufficient for a bullish reversal and a strong upward move from the current support is required.
