XRP came under selling pressure after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released September CPI data that exceeded expectations across all major measures.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report raised concerns about persistent inflation and triggered a reaction across financial markets, including cryptocurrencies, as Bitcoin (BTC) and the rest of the market lost billions within minutes.
US CPI Comes in Hotter Than Expected
For context, consumer prices increased by 0.6% month-over-month, lifting annual inflation to 3.7% from 3.4% in August.
The figure also exceeded economists’ consensus forecast of 3.6%, reversing the modest disinflation trend from the early months of 2026. The unexpected increase renewed concerns that inflation could remain elevated for longer than markets anticipated.
Higher energy costs played a massive role in the increase. Specifically, gasoline prices jumped 9.1% in September, accounting for approximately half of the monthly headline CPI gain, while overall energy prices advanced 5.2%.
Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.3% month-over-month against expectations of 0.2%. Annual core inflation climbed to 2.6% from 2.4%, exceeding the 2.5% forecast. Meanwhile, real earnings fell 0.5%, raising concerns about the effects of sustained inflation on risk assets such as XRP.
The hotter-than-expected inflation report changed market expectations surrounding the Federal Reserve’s next policy decision.
Treasury yields jumped, while equity futures retreated as traders reassessed the likelihood of additional interest rate increases ahead of the Fed’s Oct. 27-28 meeting. Before the report, markets had already priced in as much as a 64% probability of further monetary tightening.
XRP and Bitcoin Collapse on the US CPI Print
The cryptocurrency market reacted after the CPI figures emerged. Bitcoin dropped 1.23% within 15 minutes, falling from $83,794 to $82,765 as concerns about tighter monetary policy triggered widespread selling.
XRP followed the decline, losing 1.63% in less than 15 minutes as its price fell from $1.38 to an intraday low of $1.3574 before attempting a modest recovery.
XRP’s 15-minute candlestick between 12:30 PM and 12:45 PM UTC marked its steepest single-candle decline since last Thursday. The token lost 1.35% during that interval alone. Across the wider cryptocurrency market, approximately $40 billion in market cap disappeared within 45 minutes.
The selloff weakened XRP’s short-term technical structure after the token initially dropped to $1.3574. It subsequently declined another 0.40% to $1.3566, breaking below the $1.3624 support level that had absorbed selling pressure throughout the trading day.
When buyers attempted to recover the $1.3624 level, sellers defended the former support zone and turned it into resistance.
XRP’s 15-minute Relative Strength Index (RSI) also reflected the strength of the decline, falling from 63.35 to 37.27 in less than 30…
Read More: US CPI Exceeds Expectations, XRP and Bitcoin Drop Sharply
