Bitcoin Hits Lowest Since Aug. 20 as ETFs Shed $1 Billion in 3 Days

Bitcoin fell to about $72,900 by midday Tuesday, its lowest price since Aug. 20 in CoinGecko's hourly data, as hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data added to three straight days of fund outflows.

The coin was down 2.8% over 24 hours at 12:05 p.m. ET, per CoinGecko. It had traded as high as about $75,300 on Monday evening.

Three days, about $1.04 billion out

U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs have lost money on each of the last three trading days, Farside Investors data show:

• Nov. 5: $430.2 million out
• Nov. 6: $411.9 million out
• Nov. 9: $201.0 million out

BlackRock's IBIT accounted for $213.2 million of Monday's exits, while Bitwise's BITB took in $22.1 million. Tuesday's figures aren't out yet.

How ETF flows reach the price

A spot ETF holds actual bitcoin. When investors sell more shares than they buy, authorized participants (the large trading firms that create and redeem shares) hand shares back, and the issuer sells or delivers the matching coins. Days of outflows mean bitcoin leaving the funds.

Tuesday's push came from the October consumer price index, which rose 0.4% against a 0.3% forecast. Traders now fully price a quarter-point Fed rate hike on Dec. 9, per CME Group's FedWatch tool as cited by CNBC. Higher rates raise the return on cash and bonds, which competes with assets that pay no interest, like bitcoin.

Ether fell further, down 5.1% to about $2,021 over the same 24 hours, per CoinGecko. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index read 32, in its "fear" band.

In our opinion: the outflows started before Tuesday's inflation data, so the CPI report landed on a market that was already shrinking its ETF bets. The tally worth checking is Tuesday's Farside number tonight, which will show whether the run reaches a fourth day.