Bitcoin Price Breaks $64,000 as CPI Inflation Cools — Rate Cut Bets Surge

Bitcoin Price Breaks $64,000 After Cooling CPI Inflation

The trigger was a single data point: US Consumer Price Index inflation came in at 3.5%, well below the 3.8% markets expected. Cooler inflation is exactly what risk-on traders had been waiting for, and Bitcoin responded instantly, punching through $64,000. Ethereum followed, climbing toward $1,900 as the broader crypto market caught the bid.

$135M in Short Liquidations Fuel the Crypto Market Surge

Rallies this sharp are rarely just spot buying. As Bitcoin ripped higher, traders betting on lower prices got caught on the wrong side — and in a 60-minute window, $135 million in short positions were liquidated. Each forced liquidation buys back the asset to close the position, adding fuel to the move that triggered it. That short squeeze cascade is why the candle went vertical rather than grinding up slowly.

Why Cooling CPI Inflation Boosts Rate Cut Odds

This is the real story beneath the price action. Inflation cooling to 3.5% strengthens the case for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates sooner. Lower rates are broadly bullish for crypto: cheaper money pushes investors out of safe yield and into higher-risk assets like Bitcoin, and rate cuts typically weaken the dollar, historically a tailwind for crypto. Markets are now repricing the odds of a cut, and that repricing is showing up directly on the charts.

Bitcoin Price and Ethereum Price Outlook

The immediate direction hinges on whether the move holds above key levels — $64,000 for $Bitcoin and the approach to $1,900 for $Ethereum. Holding confirms the breakout; failing could signal the rally was driven more by liquidations than conviction. The bigger swing factor is the Fed: if more data confirms the cooling trend, rate cut expectations firm up. If the next print runs hot, today's optimism could reverse just as fast.