US core CPI rose 0.3% month over month in August as wireless telephone service prices jumped 5.9%, the largest increase on record for the category, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Headline CPI rose 0.4% on the month and 3.4% year over year, while core CPI was 2.4% annually.

U.S. Labor Department data showed consumer prices rose 0.4% in August from the prior month, taking the annual CPI increase to 3.4%, unchanged from July. The release pushed the dollar higher against major currencies including the euro and Swiss franc, reinforcing market expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next week.

August's CPI report challenged the view that inflation is steadily cooling. Core CPI rose 0.3% month over month, above the 0.2% consensus forecast, with "supercore" services once again leading the upside surprise. Supercore services—a services measure that excludes both energy and shelter—increased 0.5% in August, more than double July's 0.2%. The pickup comes as policymakers head into the Fed's Sept. 15–16 meeting, where officials have been monitoring this category closely. Why the Fed watches supercore The Fed treats supercore as a window into labor-driven inflation. Labor-intensive services such as medical care, air travel, and restaurants tend to track wage growth more directly than goods prices. A 0.5% monthly increase signals that underlying wage pressures may still be too firm for inflation to return to the Fed's 2% target on a sustained basis. Headline CPI rose 0.4% month over month and 3.4% year over year, in line with expectations. Beneath the surface, goods inflation has eased and shelter is beginning to show early signs of cooling, but supercore strength continues to keep core inflation elevated. Markets price in a higher chance of a September hike Ahead of the August CPI release, market-implied odds of a rate increase at the September meeting were around 70%. After the data, pricing shifted quickly to roughly 90%. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh has indicated a willingness to tighten further if inflation remains high, and the latest numbers leave less room to argue for patience. The report followed a stronger-than-expected Producer Price Index and came alongside rising oil prices, adding to a cluster of inflation signals. Supercore inflation has remained above pre-pandemic norms through much of 2026, and the San Francisco Fed has pointed to the category as one reason overall inflation has been difficult to bring down. If a 0.5% monthly pace in supercore services were to persist, it would translate into roughly 6% annualized inflation—about triple the Fed's target. What to watch next Investors will be focused on key services components that have consistently supported supercore readings: airfares, medical care, and food services. Airfares are often volatile, so a single-month surge does not necessarily establish a trend. Medical care inflation typically proves more persistent, reflecting insurance-pricing cycles and hospital pricing that adjusts more slowly.

ME News reported on Sept. 11 (UTC+8) that Nick Timiraos, often dubbed the "Fed Whisperer," said the August CPI showed core services inflation excluding housing rose 0.51% month over month, the strongest increase since January, and climbed 3% year over year. Core goods inflation increased 0.11% month over month and 0.7% year over year. Housing inflation rose 0.26% month over month and 3% year over year. (Source: ChainCatcher)

Odaily Planet Daily cited Coinglass data showing $121 million in liquidations across the crypto market over the past hour. Long positions saw $55.49 million liquidated, while short positions totaled $65.31 million. By asset, Bitcoin liquidations came in at $57.6 million and Ethereum liquidations reached $38.93 million.

U.S. inflation picked up in August, with the Consumer Price Index rising 0.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. That followed a 0.1% increase in July. Over the 12 months through August, consumer prices rose 3.4%, matching July's annual pace. Gasoline was the main contributor to the monthly increase, climbing 3.9% and accounting for more than one-third of the overall CPI gain. The broader energy index rose 2.1%. Shelter costs increased 0.3%, while food prices advanced 0.1%. The index for food away from home rose 0.3%. Excluding food and energy, the CPI increased 0.3% in August after a 0.2% rise in July. Communication, lodging away from home, airline fares, education and used vehicles posted gains, while medical care and motor vehicle insurance declined. Core CPI was up 2.4% from a year earlier, easing from 2.5% in July. On a 12-month basis, energy prices rose 16.3%, led by a 27.4% jump in gasoline, while food prices increased 2.7%. The food-at-home index was unchanged in August, though eggs rose 2.9%, dairy prices increased 0.3% and nonalcoholic beverages gained 0.2%. Fruits and vegetables fell 0.4%, while food away from home rose 0.3%. Across other major categories, shelter increased 0.3%, airline fares rose 2.7%, communication advanced 2.3% and used cars and trucks gained 0.4%. Medical care declined 0.2% and motor vehicle insurance fell 0.8%. This is a developing story.

Polymarket traders are pricing in a 79% probability that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by 25 basis points at its September meeting.

SlowMist said the Liquid Network was hit on Sept. 6 after an attacker exploited a vulnerability tied to Rangeproof verification cache key collisions. In a post on X cited by ME News on Sept. 11 (UTC+8), the security firm said the attacker minted about 3,998.5 LBTC without matching BTC peg-ins, then used peg-outs to swap the tokens into Bitcoin mainnet BTC within minutes. Following the incident, roughly 3,400 BTC has been returned to the Liquid Federation peg wallet, while about 598.5 BTC remains under the attacker's control. SlowMist attributed the issue to how Elements generates cache keys for Rangeproof verification. The mechanism concatenated multiple variable-length fields without adding length prefixes, allowing distinct parameter sets to produce identical cache keys. By crafting transactions that triggered these collisions, the attacker caused nodes to reuse a cached "verification passed" result, bypassing both secp256k1_rangeproof_verify and minimum-amount checks. Nodes then accepted outputs not backed by real assets, enabling the unauthorized LBTC mint. SlowMist said it has traced the Bitcoin-side fund flows and completed its incident analysis. (Source: ODAILY)

BlockBeats reported on Sept. 11 that the U.S. seasonally adjusted core CPI rose 0.3% month over month in August, the strongest increase since May 2026. The reading topped market expectations of 0.2% and accelerated from 0.2% previously. On a year-over-year basis, the unadjusted core CPI eased to 2.4%, extending its decline for a third straight month and marking the lowest level since April 2021. The figure matched forecasts and compared with 2.5% in the prior reading.