Bitcoin Price Can’t Clear $94K Hurdle Even as Stocks Rise. Why That’s a Problem.

Bitcoin slipped Friday, undoing some of its rebound earlier in the week. (AFP via Gtty Images)

Bitcoin and other digital assets fell Friday, losing some of its bounce—and not getting a boost from key inflation numbers that pushed stocks higher.

Bitcoin was trading at $91,336, down 1.8% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk. The world’s largest cryptocurrency climbed as high as $93,966 on Thursday, recovering from lows of $84,500 on Monday.

The crypto’s latest attempt to push beyond $94,000—a level it last reached in mid-November—looks to have failed again for now.

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1Bitcoin priceSource: CoinDeskNote: XBX indexAs of Dec. 8, 3:45 p.m. ET

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1Nov. 29Dec.82,00084,00086,00088,00090,00092,00094,000$96,000

That could change with the Federal Reserve’s next interest-rate decision on Dec. 10. The central bank is widely expected to cut rates by a quarter-point—lower borrowing costs tends to boost crypto assets, making them attractive relative to lower-yielding alternatives.

The inflation data, delayed by the government shutdown, boosted stocks, including risk assets such as tech names. That should have helped cryptocurrencies but it didn’t, which is a bit of a concern.

The Fed’s preferred inflation metric, core personal consumption expenditures price index, rose 2.8% year over year in September, compared with 2.9% in August—the first slowdown since April.

Those numbers support a rate cut by the Federal Reserve, which meets Wednesday. A reduction would be the next potential catalyst for a crypto comeback.

“Liquidity and sentiment remain fragile, so we don’t view this as a full recovery just yet,” Gracy Chen, CEO of crypto exchange Bitget said. “If the Fed confirms at least one rate cut, likely in December, the early-2026 period should stay favorable for both tech giants and digital assets.”

Ethereum , the second largest cryptocurrency, was down 2.4% at $3,135, while popular altcoin XRP slipped 3% to $2.09.

Write to Callum Keown at callum.keown@dowjones.com