Copyright The Street
The White House confirmed Wednesday that key U.S. economic indicators — including October’s consumer price index (CPI) and jobs report — are unlikely to ever be released, sparking volatility across crypto and traditional markets alike. “The Democrats may have permanently damaged the federal statistical system with October CPI and jobs reports likely never being released,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during a briefing on Nov. 13. Leavitt added that the absence of official data is “leaving our policymakers at the Fed flying blind at a critical period,” underscoring the depth of the disruption caused by the government shutdown, now in its sixth week. The news sent shockwaves through risk assets. Bitcoin (BTC) fell 1.5% to $101,748, while XRP dropped 3.2% to $2.35, according to CoinGecko data. Ethereum (ETH) slipped 0.8% to $3,441, and total crypto market capitalization fell below $3.5 trillion. Analysts say investors are bracing for prolonged uncertainty, with no inflation or employment data to guide monetary policy expectations. “ Scroll to Continue Recommended Articles Without the October data, traders fear the Federal Reserve could misjudge the economy’s health, a scenario already rattling crypto’s most data-sensitive investors. Half a billion dollar worth positions get wiped out According to data from CoinGlass, over $611 million in crypto positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, as market volatility triggered widespread losses across exchanges. A total of 158,817 traders were wiped out, with long positions accounting for the majority — roughly $500.8 million versus $110 million in shorts. The largest single liquidation occurred on Hyperliquid, where a $21.29 million POPCAT-USD position was closed. Overall, open interest dropped to $140.27 billion (down 2.75%), while 24-hour trading volume slipped nearly 1% to $293.3 billion, signaling waning market momentum. Among exchanges, Hyperliquid led total liquidations with $137.4 million (99.5% long positions), followed by Bybit at $80.8 million and Binance at $76.9 million.
