Hot Inflation Print Pushes Bitcoin Under $83,000
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that US consumer prices rose 0.6% in September, lifting annual inflation to 3.7% from 3.4% in August. Economists had expected 3.6%. Core inflation, which strips out food and energy, reached 2.6% against a forecast of 2.5%, with a surge in gasoline prices driving much of the headline increase.
Bitcoin reacted within minutes. The asset slid from roughly $83,800 to the $82,600–$82,900 range, erasing the modest gains seen after about $175 million flowed into US spot Bitcoin ETFs on Monday. Ethereum also slipped back below the $2,500 level.
Federal Reserve Hike Bets Return
The data lands weeks after the Fed raised its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to a 3.75%–4.00% range, its first increase in more than three years. Before the report, traders priced about a 78% chance that the central bank would hold rates at its October meeting, with another hike widely expected by December. A hotter core reading gives hawkish policymakers more room to argue for further tightening, which typically weighs on risk assets such as crypto.
Evernorth Brings an XRP Treasury to Nasdaq
On the corporate side, Evernorth Holdings began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker XRPN on October 12 after completing its merger with the special purpose acquisition company Armada Acquisition Corp. II. The listing had originally been planned for October 8 but was delayed by closing procedures. The company holds approximately 473 million XRP and raised about $300 million in gross cash proceeds. It was scheduled to ring the Nasdaq closing bell on October 14.
Evernorth also named its first institutional execution partners: Ripple, Kraken, Coinbase and BitGo. They will help deploy the treasury in institutional strategies rather than leaving the tokens idle.
What It Means for Investors
XRPN is a treasury company, not a spot ETF, so its shares and XRP are separate assets and can trade at a premium or discount to the underlying holdings. With XRP trading near $1.37, well below levels seen when the deal was first announced, the treasury is worth roughly $650 million, a visible gap to the original valuation.
Together, the two stories show the market's current split: macro data still dictates short-term price direction, while traditional finance keeps building regulated entry points into digital assets. Traders will now watch upcoming Fed commentary and the October policy meeting for the next major signal.
