#MarketTurbulence Cryptocurrencies in Panic: $1 Billion Vanished Because Someone Said Three Letters - PPI

This week something surprising happened: $1 billion was liquidated in a matter of hours. And all because the U.S. Producer Price Index, PPI, rose a little more than expected. No, you’re not mistaken. It wasn’t an explosion at a mining farm, nor a bitcoin ban in some state, nor even a tweet from Elon Musk. A number just came out in the report, and traders lost their minds.

Bitcoin even fell below $112,000, although not long ago we were told that it “wouldn’t drop below a hundred thousand.” Sure, of course. We were also told that coffee prices wouldn’t rise if wages at Starbucks increased.

And so, while bitcoin was trying to remember who it is - a future asset or simply a modern analog of gold, Ethereum ETFs received a sudden gift in the form of $729 million in inflows. Institutions say: “Oh, panic? Great, we’ll buy!”.

Why is this important? Because cryptocurrency, once touted as independent of the system, now reacts to macroeconomic news faster than the bond market. We live in a world where bitcoin fears inflation, and Ethereum rejoices when everyone is nervous.

And here’s the main question:

Is this the end of the romance of cryptocurrencies or the beginning of a new game?

If you ask old bitcoiners, they will say: “Just hodl”. If you ask traders, they will say: “Set a stop loss and pray”. Or speculators: “Buy in panic and sell in euphoria, as every good speculator has done for the last 300 years”.

And in the meantime: the market is not about technology, it’s not about freedom, it’s not about blockchain. The market is a theater. And the tickets for the best seats are the most expensive. Especially when behind the scenes is the PPI.