US PPI Under Forecast Sends Bitcoin Higher, $39M in Shorts Liquidated

Producer prices in the United States rose by less than economists had predicted in October, according to the latest PPI figures, and Bitcoin moved higher within minutes. The surge caught bearish traders by surprise, triggering liquidations of around $39 million in short positions within sixty minutes, CoinGlass data shows. One trader carrying a $52 million short on Bitcoin now faces a forced-exit threshold less than 2% from the current price.

The price reversal followed a punishing period for long holders. Over a 24-hour span, $1.42 billion worth of crypto positions were closed, and 83.4% of that sum consisted of bets on price increases, according to CoinGlass.

Why did PPI data hurt bearish traders?

The Producer Price Index measures what businesses pay for goods and services and is often seen as a precursor to consumer price movements.

Producer prices climbed 6.5% over the previous year, below the 6.6% estimate from the Labor Department. On a monthly basis, they gained 0.3%, missing the forecast of 0.4%.

US 🇺🇸 PPI DATA:

Core PPI MoM: 0.3% (Est. 0.3%, Prior 0.7%)
Core PPI YoY: 5.0% (Est. 5.0%, Prior 5.0%)

PPI MoM: 0.3% (Est. 0.4%, Prior 1.3%)
PPI YoY: 6.5% (Est. 6.6%, Prior 6.3%)

— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) November 13, 2026

Even so, inflation did not cool. The annual rate advanced from 6.3% in September, and a core benchmark edged up 0.5% for the month.

Earlier in the day Bitcoin had dipped under $67,600, but within five minutes of the data release it surged from about $69,246 to nearly $70,000. On Binance the cryptocurrency briefly topped $70,200 before retreating to roughly $69,870.

Traders betting on price declines absorbed the blow. Of the $41.14 million liquidated in the hour following the release, short bets accounted for $39.06 million, CoinGlass reported.

Can the $52 million bitcoin short be saved?

Hyperbot, a tracking service, shows that a trader on the Hyperliquid exchange opened a 750-bitcoin short position 50 minutes before the PPI numbers crossed. The average price of the entry was $69,008.

The trader contributed roughly $1.94 million of their own capital, with the balance funded by borrowed money that gave leverage as high as 40 times.

Hyperbot indicates that the liquidation price, at which the exchange would forcefully close the bet, sits near $70,986. At the peak of the move Bitcoin came within roughly 1.1% of that level, and the gap later widened to about 1.6%.

The position had already lost about $208,000 before the PPI release. There is no public evidence that the trader had early sight of the data.

If the bet fails, closing it would entail buying back 750 bitcoin in a rising market. Last March, a $423 million bitcoin short with 40-fold leverage on the same exchange sparked a public liquidation chase, BeInCrypto reported.

The greater test arrives at the Federal Reserve’s December 8-9 meeting. Governor Christopher Waller has tied a possible half-point rate increase to core consumer prices hitting 0.3% or more. The October core reading matched that exact threshold, ING noted.