Bitcoin holds near $83,600 into Wednesday's inflation report as the shorts take the hit, and Fidelity's fund pulls in $103 million

Bitcoin spent Tuesday clawing back Monday night's drop and ended the US day close to where it began the week. As of about 10pm Pacific it was trading around $83,600, up about 0.6% over 24 hours, after briefly crossing $84,000 without holding it, Benzinga reported. Ether consolidated near $2,500. The whole crypto market was worth about $2.9 trillion, up about 1.2% on the day.

This time the pain was on the other side. More than $190 million of leveraged positions were liquidated over 24 hours, most of them shorts, according to Coinglass data cited by Benzinga. That is a reversal from Monday evening, when a slide below $82,000 wiped out more than $770 million, mostly longs. Bitcoin's long/short ratio slipped below one, meaning derivatives traders are, on balance, still positioned for a fall. Crypto analyst Ali Martinez put the line in the sand at the 50-day moving average: "The key level to watch is $84,000, where the 50 SMA currently sits."

Fund flows offered a first sign of relief. Fidelity's FBTC took in $103.1 million on Tuesday and Morgan Stanley's MSBT $6.7 million, per Farside Investors' early figures, with BlackRock's IBIT not yet reported. That follows five straight sessions of outflows that cost bitcoin funds $654.5 million. Crypto stocks were mixed: Strategy closed down 0.33% and Bitmine Immersion down 1.43%, Benzinga reported.

On Wall Street the Dow fell 0.35% to 51,670.10, the S&P 500 slipped 0.02% to 7,805.45 and the Nasdaq lost 0.15% to 27,204.38, while the oil fund USO rose 1.36% on fresh reports of Iranian tactics to disrupt shipping. The September consumer price index lands on Wednesday morning, and CoinDesk noted the Crypto Fear and Greed Index has already dropped to 57, its lowest since September 18. Prices are as of about 10pm Pacific on October 13 and will have moved.