Bitcoin demonstrated sharp price reversal on Friday, dipping to $76,040 immediately after the August Consumer Price Index release before recovering to near $79,000—a move that exposed conflicting signals in institutional appetite.
The core CPI monthly print of 0.3 percent exceeded the 0.2 percent consensus forecast, the key hawkish data point that triggered the initial selloff. The annual core rate, however, cooled to 2.4 percent from July's 2.5 percent, the lowest reading since 2021. Total CPI rose 3.4 percent year over year and 0.4 percent month over month, matching forecasts.
With the report arriving five days before the Federal Reserve's Sept. 15-16 meeting, CME FedWatch priced a 25-basis-point hike at 69 percent probability. Polymarket and Myriad (operated by Decrypt's parent company) placed the odds at 62 percent and 61 percent, respectively.
Ether led altcoin gains with a 7.48 percent daily climb to $2,611. Solana gained 4.53 percent above $100. Zcash posted the strongest weekly performance among top-10 assets, rising 23.09 percent over seven days. Total market capitalization approached $2.7 trillion.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index jumped to 73 (greed territory) from 56 Thursday, while the Altcoin Season Index held at 38, indicating Bitcoin dominance persisted.
The institutional-retail divergence emerged in spot Bitcoin ETF flows: net outflows totaled $330.5 million despite the price recovery, suggesting limited fresh capital deployment from traditional investors into the rally.
Derivatives activity intensified alongside the price swing. Open interest rose 1.52 percent to $429.99 billion, and 24-hour volume climbed 2.27 percent to $877.11 billion. Liquidations totaled $897.09 million—$493.85 million in longs and $403.24 million in shorts—indicating the sharp reversal caught leveraged traders on both sides of the trade off-guard.
