Bitcoin

<h2 id="header-0">Key Facts</h2>
<ul>
 <li>Bitcoin fell 2.8% over 24 hours to near $81,400 as of 9:50 a.m. ET on Thursday, after topping $84,800 late Wednesday, as Nasdaq 100 futures fell about 1.7%.</li>
 <li>US spot Bitcoin ETFs and the treasury companies Glassnode tracks hold their coins at an average cost of $80,000 to $81,500, and a daily close below $80,000 would put both at a loss.</li>
 <li>Buyers refilled bids near $80,000 within days of an Oct. 15 dip, Glassnode said, and US spot Bitcoin ETFs took in about $1.07 billion over Oct. 19–21.</li>
</ul>
Bitcoin (<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/">BTC</a>) fell about 3% to near $81,400 on Thursday, back to the price US spot Bitcoin ETF buyers paid on average. A daily close below $80,000 would bring the True Market Mean near $77,600 into view, according to Glassnode.
The drop came as Nasdaq 100 futures slid after quarterly results from Tesla and Meta. The ETF cost basis and that of corporate treasury buyers sit between $80,000 and $81,500, Glassnode said. The same band caught an Oct. 15 dip.
LMAX Group's Joel Kruger said the link to stocks has tightened.
“The earlier period of crypto outperformance has given way to closer alignment with equities,” Kruger, a market strategist at LMAX, told <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.coindesk.com/daybook-us/2026/10/22/crypto-traders-seek-shelter-in-bitcoin-as-altcoins-slide-and-etf-flows-wobble">CoinDesk</a> in an email.
<h2 id="header-1">Why Is Bitcoin Price Down? Tech Futures Fell on Earnings</h2>
Tesla cut its capital-spending forecast after Wednesday's close, CoinDesk <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/10/22/bitcoin-gives-back-its-run-at-usd85-000-as-tesla-and-meta-fail-to-calm-ai-nerves">reported</a>. Tesla and Meta were each down about 3% before the open, and Nasdaq 100 <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/futures">futures</a> fell about 1.7%, according to CoinDesk's live <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/10/22/live-updates-bitcoin-s-round-trip-to-usd85-000-burns-traders-on-both-sides">blog</a>.
Bitcoin had tracked tech stocks <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/bitcoin-price-rises-tech-stocks-brent-dollar110">higher</a> on Wednesday and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/bitcoin-chases-85k-etf-inflows-leverage">chased</a> a breakout late in the day. The slide began that evening and deepened through Asian trading hours.
Asian markets also fell, and China's CSI 300 index entered a bear market, CoinDesk <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/10/22/asian-stocks-tumble-bitcoin-retreats-as-china-enters-bear-market">reported</a>. Brent crude rose after Iran said tankers were hit near the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Associated <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://bnnbloomberg.ca/markets/oil/2026/10/22/iran-says-7-oil-tankers-are-on-fire-or-damaged-in-a-key-strait-as-fears-grow-of-a-return-to-war">Press</a>.
<h2 id="header-2">Who Bought Near $81K? ETF Funds and Treasury Firms</h2>
A cost basis is the average price a group of holders paid for its coins. When price falls below it, the average holder in that group is sitting on a loss.
The ETF line capped Bitcoin in the spring and has acted as <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/support-level">support</a> since early October, Glassnode <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://research.glassnode.com/the-week-onchain-week-42-2026/">wrote</a> on Wednesday. Its deepest test came on Oct. 15, when the hourly close fell to about $80,100.<tweet-embed url="https://x.com/glassnode/status/2113211463863296008"></tweet-embed>
The funds are still buying. US spot Bitcoin <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/exchange-traded-fund-etf">ETFs</a> took in about $1.07 billion over Oct. 19–21, Farside <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://farside.co.uk/bitcoin-etf-flow-all-data/">data</a> show. The treasury companies have slowed, with each month since June adding less than a tenth of their peak month, according to Glassnode.
<h2 id="header-3">Did Leverage Drive the Drop? Long Bets Were Liquidated</h2>
Traders who borrowed to bet on further gains took most of the losses. Long positions accounted for about $272 million of the $400 million in crypto <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/liquidation">liquidations</a> over 24 hours, CoinGlass <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.coinglass.com/LiquidationData">data</a> show.
Santiment had flagged the build-up on Wednesday afternoon, as open interest climbed with prices.
“Rapid increases can also create larger liquidation cascades when prices suddenly reverse,” Santiment wrote on X.<tweet-embed url="https://x.com/SantimentData/status/2112960414409527305"></tweet-embed>
Positioning stayed light overall. Funding was barely positive and the number of open contracts barely changed, CoinDesk <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/10/22/bitcoin-slides-below-usd82-000-as-ai-doubts-return-with-defi-tokens-leading-declines">reported</a>, a sign traders were closing bets rather than adding <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/leverage">leverage</a>.
<h2 id="header-4">What Would Break Support? A Daily Close Below $80K</h2>
A daily close below $80,000 would put the average ETF and treasury holder at a loss and bring the True Market Mean near $77,600 into view, according to Glassnode. That measure tracks the average cost of active investors.
Glassnode also names the signal on the upside. A daily close above $87,500, with ETF inflows repeating on rising volume, would show demand absorbing the supply overhead.
Whether buyers defend the band again is the test for the rest of the week.
“The Bitcoin bears still haven't managed to achieve more than a -9% dip from the local high,” Checkonchain's James Check <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://newsletter.checkonchain.com/p/what-dip">wrote</a> early Thursday.
Further Reading: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/bitcoin-chases-85k-etf-inflows-leverage">Bitcoin Chases $85K After Spot BTC ETF Inflows, Leverage Use Return</a>

Why Is Bitcoin Falling? BTC Tracks Tesla, Meta Stocks Lower

Table of Contents

Other articles published on Oct 22, 2026

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!