[LIVE] Latest Digital currency News, August 15 – What Causes Today’s Crypto Decline? U.S. July PPI Soars, Initiates Trading market Sell-Off: Which Cryptocurrency To Invest In During This Drop?

Let’s explore the reasons behind today’s decline in the market. The U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) for July saw an increase of 0.9% month-over-month and 3.3% year-over-year, significantly surpassing projections of 0.2% and 2.5%. This marks the largest monthly rise since June 2022, driven by escalating service costs in machinery wholesaling, portfolio fees, hospitality, and freight, alongside hikes in vegetable and meat prices. The unexpected data heightened inflation worries, reducing optimism for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut and leading traders to reevaluate potential crypto purchases in a more risk-averse atmosphere.

SHOCKING: Producer Price Index (PPI) jumps to 3.3% YoY in July, well above expectations. Core PPI increases by 3.7%. Trump’s tariffs on imports are escalating wholesale costs, indicating even steeper prices for consumers.

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) August 14, 2025

Crypto markets responded instantly. BTC fell by 5.88%, dropping below $117,200 from its recent ledger highs, while ETH experienced a nearly 7% decrease, briefly falling below $4,500. Meme coins were hit the hardest: PEPE, SPX6900, and Fartcoin all declined over 10%, causing the sector to drop 8.62% in 24 hours. XRP dipped 6.4% to $3.12. More than $1 billion in long positions were liquidated in under an hour.

(BTCUSDT)

Conversely, some projects still experienced gains. SKALE rose nearly 48%, standing out in an otherwise declining market.

DISCOVER: The 12+ Hottest Crypto Presales to Purchase Right Now

PPI Exceeds CPI – Should Crypto Investors Be Concerned or Seek the Best Crypto Options?

CPI indicates consumer prices, whereas PPI assesses production costs. When PPI increases more rapidly than CPI, it exerts pressure on profit margins and hints at possible inflation: generally negative for stocks. However, the correlation for crypto is weaker. As a high-volatility, risk-sensitive asset class, factors like strong narratives, retail FOMO, and memecoin speculation can overpower macroeconomic challenges.

For instance, in 2021, despite a notable rise in PPI, BTC and ETH maintained a parabolic rally, bolstered by market fluidity and institutional investments.

Bitcoin has regained $118K, ETH is back above $4.6K, and the current trading market sentiment aims towards capitalizing on yesterday’s dip. So, what are the newest crypto updates for August 15?

22 minutes ago

USELESS Memecoin Gets Binance Futures Listing After Coinbase and Binance US

By Fatima

On August 15 at 20:15 (UTC+8), Binance Futures will list the USELESSUSDT perpetual contract, offering up to 50x leverage. This follows recent announcements from Coinbase and Binance US that have already increased USELESS’s visibility and trading volume.

As the largest memecoin by market cap launched on Bonkfun, USELESS has quickly garnered attention within the crypto community. With numerous major exchange listings in such a short span, USELESS is establishing itself as a prominent solana memecoin in the current landscape.

2 hours ago

$6 Billion in Bitcoin & Ethereum Options Expire on August 15

By Fatima

On August 15, $6 billion worth of crypto options expired, making up about 9% of the total open interest. There were 39,000 Bitcoin options that expired, with a Put/Call Ratio of 0.95, a Max Pain at $118,000, and a notional value of $4.6 billion. ETH had 280,000 options expire, with a Put/Call Ratio of 1.04, a Max Pain at $4,000, and a notional value of $1.3 billion.

BTC recently reached a new peak, while ETH approached an all-time high near $4,800, with market sentiment being highly uptrend. Deribit achieved a significant milestone this week, processing $10.9 billion in options trading in a single day, its record after acquisition. BTC’s implied price swings remains low, beneath 35% for short- and medium-term options, whilst ETH’s main-term IV is around 70%. 

4 hours ago

OKX Implements Major OKB Burn, Circulating supply Now Limited to 21 Million

By Fatima

As per Etherscan data, OKX’s official buy-back and burn wallet has permanently removed 279 million OKB tokens from circulation today at 14:00 (UTC+8). The tokens were directed to the blockchain’s null address (0x00…0000), marking an auditable on-chain burn. This action reduces the total OKB token supply to just 21 million tokens, aligning with Bitcoin’s capped model and potentially enhancing scarcity for holders.

The post [LIVE] Latest Crypto News, August 15 – Why Is Crypto Down Today? U.S. July PPI Surges, Triggers Trading market Sell-Off: Best Crypto To Buy During This Dip? appeared first on 99Bitcoins.