The US government reported yesterday that consumer prices were 3.7% higher in September than a year earlier, above what economists expected and up from 3.4% in August. Core inflation, which leaves out food and energy, was 2.6%.

Bitcoin dipped within minutes. It is $81,623 this morning, down 1.9% in a day and just above Tuesday's $81,377, the lowest of the daily readings we've taken since September 27. On Polymarket, the bet that the Fed leaves interest rates alone at its October 28 meeting fell from 81% yesterday to 74%. The bet on a quarter-point rise is at 23%.

The Fed raised rates by a quarter point on September 16, its first rise since 2023. Bitcoin barely dipped then and was more than a tenth higher a week later. This time the buying underneath is thinner, and the data firm Glassnode shows where.

US bitcoin ETFs took in nearly $3 billion between September 21 and October 6. Since October 7 they've had about $760 million of net outflows, Glassnode counts, using data through October 12. The ETFs paid about $81,500 a coin on average, and bitcoin has dipped under that price on October 8 and October 13 and closed back above it both days.

Above the price, people who bought six to twelve months ago paid about $88,000 on average. Bitcoin rose to that level in January and then fell by more than a third, because each push higher meets holders who can sell near break-even.

If you hold bitcoin, a daily close under $81,500 puts the average ETF buyer at a loss. Below $80,000, traders who borrowed to bet on a rise can be forced to sell, which Glassnode says could pull the price toward $78,000. A close above $88,000 with ETF money coming back would show buyers can absorb the sellers there.

Turkish police detained Richard Heart, the founder of HEX and PulseChain, in Istanbul on Wednesday, Turkish media reported. Interpol issued a Red Notice for him in December 2024 at Finland's request, over alleged aggravated tax fraud worth hundreds of millions of euros. Heart hasn't been convicted, and no extradition request has been confirmed.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission sued him in 2023, alleging more than $1 billion of unregistered token sales. A court threw that case out in 2025 after ruling that Washington couldn't reach him. That ruling has no force in Finland's tax case.

If you hold HEX or PulseChain tokens, the founder is now in custody in Turkey, and nobody has said whether Finland will ask for him to be sent there.

Solana's biggest change to how its network agrees on transactions switches on Wednesday, October 21, at about 15:00 UTC, the Solana Foundation says. Alpenglow replaces TowerBFT, the voting system Solana has used since launch, and targets finality in about 150 milliseconds, down from about 12.8 seconds today. Finality is the point where a transaction can't be reversed.

Only the voting half ships next week. Rotor, the half that moves block data between validators, needs its own governance vote and has no date. The network will also tolerate fewer bad actors: it stays safe with up to 20% of stake acting maliciously, where the old design allowed a third.

If you hold SOL, exchanges and bridges will no longer have to choose between speed and certainty when they move your coins.