Bitcoin Slips Toward $74K as Waller Lifts Fed Hike Odds

Bitcoin fell 1.3% to $74,080 on Tuesday as Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller backed a 25-basis-point interest-rate increase at the Dec. 9 Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Market-implied odds of a hike rose to 96.3% from 76.3% after his speech, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.

Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.4% before the Wall Street open. Higher interest rates can raise borrowing costs and reduce the flow of capital into risk assets such as bitcoin.

Waller said he would support a quarter-point increase even if October’s Consumer Price Index showed a smaller monthly gain than September’s reading. “While I am hoping for an improvement over September, even if this occurs, I would still support a 25 basis point increase in the FOMC’s policy rate at our December meeting,” he said in a speech at the Bank of England Watchers Conference in London.

Inflation that was “substantially higher” than expected could require “more robust action” from the FOMC, Waller added.

October CPI data was scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday. Economists expected consumer prices to rise 0.3% from the previous month, compared with a 0.6% increase in September. Fuel costs contributed to September’s increase.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the release would include monthly data only because the 2025 U.S. government shutdown reduced the availability of price information. October 2025 CPI data was not released for the same reason.

Christopher Hodge, chief U.S. economist at Natixis CIB Americas, attributed the expected slowdown in October inflation to lower fuel and shelter costs. He identified owners’ equivalent rent and lodging away from home as areas that could help reduce core CPI pressure, along with steadier diesel prices.

Waller also cited September data for the Personal Consumption Expenditures index, the inflation gauge targeted by the Fed. PCE prices rose 0.5% from the previous month and 3.7% from a year earlier in September. “Let’s just say it. September’s inflation data were bad. There was no silver lining,” Waller said.

Reviewed and fact-checked by Alex Panasenko on November 10.