Why Are Bitcoin, Ethereum And XRP Prices Going Down Today?

The crypto market is falling again. Bitcoin dropped below $73,000 on Tuesday for the first time in nearly three months, and Ethereum and XRP posted even bigger losses. The main trigger was a hotter-than-expected US inflation report, which has raised fears that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again next month.

Crypto Prices Today

According to market data:

• Bitcoin: $72,910, down 3.5% in 24 hours and 6.2% over 7 days
• Ethereum: $2,018, down 6.0% in 24 hours and 12.3% over 7 days
• XRP: $1.05, down 6.4% in 24 hours and 18.6% over 7 days
• Solana: $81.99, down 6.9% in 24 hours and 12.6% over 7 days
• BNB: $670.67, down 2.9% in 24 hours

About $300 million in leveraged crypto positions were wiped out in a single hour as Bitcoin fell below $73,000.

Reason 1: Inflation Came In Hot Again

US consumer prices rose faster than expected in October:

• Headline inflation: up 0.4% for the month, against expectations of 0.3%
• Core inflation, which excludes food and energy: up 0.3%, against expectations of 0.2%

S&P 500 futures fell 0.76% within a minute of the release.

The timing made it worse. Hours earlier, Fed Governor Christopher Waller had said a larger 0.5 percentage point hike should be considered if core inflation came in at 0.3% or higher. It came in at exactly 0.3%.

Reason 2: A December Rate Hike Looks Almost Certain

Other recent data also points to an economy that is still running hot:

• Employers added 165,000 jobs in October, far above the 65,000 expected
• Unemployment fell to 4.1%
• The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, core PCE, is running at 3.1%
• Two Fed officials voted for a rate hike at the October meeting

CME FedWatch now prices a near-100% chance of a rate hike in December. Higher rates make borrowing more expensive and tend to pull money out of riskier assets such as crypto.

Reason 3: Bitcoin ETF Investors Are Selling

US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $696 million in net outflows on Friday, the biggest single day of withdrawals since January, according to Glassnode. Glassnode said only two days in the past year saw larger outflows, and both were followed by further price drops.

Reason 4: The Tech Sell-Off Keeps Spreading

Crypto has been moving closely with tech stocks, and those are still under pressure. Nvidia has now erased all of its gains for 2026 and is down more than 11% for the year. The chipmaker has lost about 31% in a month, wiping out roughly $1.82 trillion in market value.

Is There Any Good News?

Oil prices have fallen about 20% since October 30, and that drop will only start to show up in November’s inflation data. The headline monthly rate also slowed to 0.4% in October, from 0.6% in September.

The problem is timing. The Fed meets on December 9, one day before November’s inflation report comes out, so policymakers will not see that cooler reading before they decide.

A Buying Opportunity?

Not everyone is worried. SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom said the crypto Fear and Greed Index went from 5 in February 2026 to 82 by August. In his view, investors who bought during that extreme fear have done “remarkably well.”

“If sentiment is as low as it is today, it feels like a great buying opportunity for Bitcoin, Ethereum and some of the other majors,” Chalom said. He called crypto’s volatility “a product feature” that attracts institutions.