Bitcoin Falls Below $78K as Hot PCE Data Hits Risk Assets
Bitcoin (BTC) dropped below $78,000 following Wednesday’s Wall Street open after US inflation data exceeded forecasts, according to Cointelegraph. TradingView data showed daily BTC losses of up to 1%, while US stocks opened lower and gold broke below $4,600 per ounce.
The declines followed the July reading of the US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, which rose 3.7% year-on-year, above the anticipated 3.6%. The Bureau of Economic Analysis confirmed the PCE price index increased 0.2% from the prior month, with the core measure excluding food and energy also up 0.2%.
Markets had reacted positively to June’s unexpected drop in PCE gains, which included the first month-on-month decrease in six years, making July’s uptick a disappointment. Trading resource The Kobeissi Letter noted on X that US inflation continues to run at nearly double the Fed’s 2.0% target.
The data arrived a day before the Fed’s Jackson Hole economic symposium, where chair Kevin Warsh is scheduled to deliver the keynote speech on Friday. Investors were also awaiting Nvidia’s Q2 earnings report, expected to show $92.3 billion in quarterly revenue, according to Cointelegraph.
Analyst Rekt Capital cautioned on X that Bitcoin risked extending its pattern of lower highs in place since October 2025, warning that a monthly close below a key resistance trend line would confirm another macro lower high. He pointed to the 50-week exponential moving average at $77,251 as a level Bitcoin needs to reclaim and hold, noting its last monthly close above that line came in October 2025. Absent a break in the pattern, he said, the recent rebound could still be classified as a relief rally within a broader bear market.
Based on reporting by cointelegraph.com.
