Bitcoin steadied near $81,500 — below the $82,500 level it lost Thursday — after spending the week in a $3,800 range ($81,000 low to $84,800 high). Brent settled at $113.17 Thursday and traded near $114.70 Friday, complicating the inflation picture ahead of the Fed’s October 27-28 meeting. The yen briefly spiked to 156 per dollar after Japan’s core CPI rose 2.1% in September — the first reading above the BoJ’s 2% target in nine months — before fading back to 157. Crypto futures saw $435M in liquidations over 24 hours, 88.5% from longs. Pepe led the altcoin rebound at +14%; Ether’s 1-week put-call skew near 13% (strongest put demand since early October). Bitcoin’s hashrate hit a 7-month high despite miners pivoting to AI — difficulty up 5.92%, with another 5.16% adjustment projected.
Bitcoin’s market cap is $1.67T, and its FDV ratio of 1.0 points to limited overhang from uncirculated supply. Turnover of 0.018 and weaker sentiment contrast with positive big-order net flows of $69.55M.