Bitcoin Dips Below $80K as Traders De-Risk Ahead of Fed Meeting

Bitcoin traded around $79,800–$80,200 on October 26, 2026, after slipping below the $80,000 level over the weekend, as traders reduced risk ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Wednesday meeting. Ether fell toward $2,300, XRP to about $1.28, and Solana hovered near $100. More than $404 million in leveraged long positions were liquidated in a short window, while U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded roughly $636 million in net outflows on a recent day, contributing to monthly net outflows. The move coincided with continued AI-related selling in tech stocks and elevated oil prices tied to Middle East tensions, pressuring risk assets broadly. Analysts noted that while the Fed is unlikely to change rates this week, any hawkish signals on a potential December hike could further weigh on crypto.

The $80,000 threshold has acted as a key psychological and technical support, with short-term holder cost bases nearby. A break lower could open paths toward $75,000–$76,000, while a hold and dovish Fed tone might allow a rebound toward $84,000–$85,000. Institutional flows remain mixed, with earlier-week inflows partially reversed, and corporate treasuries like those of Tesla and SpaceX (combined ~30,221 BTC) drawing attention amid merger talks.

Other news:

Positive 📈

• OCC finalized the first GENIUS Act rule on Oct 21, establishing a framework for payment stablecoin issuers effective Jan 18, 2027, easing some reserve rules and addressing rewards case-by-case.
• Solana activated Alpenglow upgrade on Oct 21, targeting ~150ms finality (from ~12.8s), replacing TowerBFT without downtime.
• Franklin Templeton expanded tokenized fund presence on XRP Ledger by $150M and filed for dividend-reinvesting ETFs with Bitcoin allocation.
• Some reports of Bitcoin ETFs breaking outflow streaks with $301M inflows in recent sessions.
• SpaceX and Tesla formed independent committees for merger talks, potentially consolidating 30,221 BTC under one entity.

Neutral ⚖️

• Initia chain halted after a $2.7M MoveVM exploit, with no restart date set.
• CoinDCX confirmed a $16M loss from legacy wallets.
• Keystone hardware wallet disclosed a data breach exposing customer info but not keys.
• Mt. Gox delayed creditor payouts further to Oct 2027.
• Ethereum Foundation sold ~$6.42M in ETH.
• South Korea crypto tax delay discussions ongoing.

Negative 📉

• Over $400M in long liquidations as BTC broke $80k.
• Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw large outflows ($636M one day), turning October net negative.
• Ether ETFs experienced significant October outflows exceeding $1B.
• Broader altcoin weakness, with many down 8–13% weekly (HBAR, AAVE, AVAX, etc.).
• Ongoing geopolitical risks elevating oil and risk-off sentiment.
• Various security incidents including BloomTrading SOL drain and others.

Coins Moving the Most Lately

Weekly performers (top 50/100): MemeCore (M) led with ~+17.6%, PEPE +13.7%, Zcash (ZEC) +7–8%, Ethena (ENA) +8–9%. Losers included HBAR ~-13%, Morpho, AAVE, AVAX down 9–13%. Bitcoin down ~2%, Ethereum ~3–5%, Solana holding better near $100–101. Potential buying opportunities near BTC $80k support if Fed is dovish, or dips in quality L1s like SOL post-upgrade; memes and privacy (ZEC) showing relative strength but higher risk.

Bitcoin 7-day price evolution: peaked near $84.8k on Oct 21, dipped to ~$79.1k weekend, trading ~$80k as of Oct 26. Charts available in attached analysis files.