Bitcoin declined 3.3% in 24 hours to $80,979 after the US released a hotter-than-expected inflation report for September. Annual inflation came in at 3.7%, exceeding the 3.6% forecast, while core inflation rose to 2.6% against expectations of 2.5%.
The price drop pushed Bitcoin below the average price that US spot exchange-traded funds paid for their holdings, near $81,500 per Glassnode data. Spot ETFs recorded $261.5 million in net outflows the same day.
The sell-off triggered significant leverage liquidations, with crypto markets experiencing nearly $1 billion in liquidations in the 24 hours through early Thursday. Long positions accounted for 91.6% of the total.
Whale Accumulation Preceded the Downturn
Whale holdings outside exchanges and mining pools had reached 3.03 million BTC in the weeks before the inflation report, the highest level since November 2025, according to CryptoQuant data. This represented a shift from distribution to accumulation activity.
CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju noted the transition in an October 13 report, observing that whales had switched from selling to accumulating while retail participation remained low.
Market-wide demand metrics showed positive momentum. Analyst Darkfost estimated combined 30-day spot and futures demand at 69,000 BTC following two negative months.
Mixed Signals on Market Direction
Analyst sentiment diverged sharply. CryptoQuant's consensus index stood at +49.2 on October 14, with 84% of 164 tracked analysts voting bullish on Bitcoin. However, social media sentiment had turned fearful, with Santiment recording only 0.82 bullish comments for every bearish one across X, Reddit, and Telegram on October 13.
Glassnode cautioned that fresh demand behind the price remains limited, citing ETF selling and overhead supply from earlier buyer cohorts. Buyers from the past two years maintain cost bases between $88,000 and $100,000.
Key Support and Resistance Levels
The $80,000 level represents significant support, marked by the largest bid block on Binance's spot order book and Bitcoin's 365-day moving average. A break below this level could trigger selling from leveraged long positions clustered just under that price, with the True Market Mean for active investors near $78,000.
On the upside, $88,000 marks the cost basis for six-to-12-month buyers and a short liquidation cluster. A daily close above $88,000 alongside renewed ETF inflows would signal demand absorbing available supply at that level.
