US PPI data showed producer prices rising less than expected in October, and Bitcoin (BTC) jumped within minutes. The move caught bearish traders off guard, wiping out about $39 million in short bets within an hour, CoinGlass data shows. One trader who bet $52 million on a drop now sits under 2% from a forced exit.
The reversal followed a brutal day for bulls. Over 24 hours, $1.42 billion in crypto positions were liquidated, and 83.4% of that hit traders betting on gains, according to CoinGlass.
How did US PPI flip the market against bears?
The Producer Price Index (PPI) tracks what businesses pay for goods and services. As a result, it often hints at what shoppers pay later.
Prices rose 6.5% over the year, below the 6.6% forecast, the Labor Department said. The monthly gain was 0.3%, under the expected 0.4%.
Inflation still did not cool. The annual rate rose from 6.3% in September, and a core measure climbed 0.5% for the month.
Bitcoin, which had dipped below $67,600 earlier in the day, jumped from about $69,246 to nearly $70,000 within five minutes of the release. It briefly topped $70,200 on Binance before easing to about $69,870.
Short sellers, who profit when prices fall, took the hit. They accounted for $39.06 million of the $41.14 million liquidated in the hour, CoinGlass data shows.
Can the $52 Million Bitcoin Short Survive?
Tracking site Hyperbot shows a trader on crypto exchange Hyperliquid opened a 750 BTC short 50 minutes before the data. The entry averaged $69,008.
The trader posted about $1.94 million of their own funds. Borrowed money, at up to 40 times leverage, covers the rest.
Hyperbot puts the liquidation price, where the exchange forcibly closes the bet, near $70,986. At its peak, Bitcoin came within about 1.1% of that level, and the gap later widened to roughly 1.6%.
The position was already down about $208,000 before the release. There is no public evidence the trader saw the numbers early.
If the bet fails, closing it means buying back 750 BTC into a rising market. In March 2025, a $423 million, 40x Bitcoin short on the same exchange sparked a public liquidation hunt, BeInCrypto reported.
The bigger test comes at the Fed’s December 8–9 meeting. Governor Christopher Waller has tied a possible half-point hike to core consumer prices running at 0.3% or more. October’s core reading hit exactly that, according to ING.
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