Greed

Ethereum

Bitcoin

Bank

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 Top Reasons Crypto Market Is Dropping Today — Source: CoinGape
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<ul>
 <li>Crypto market drops on Friday to $2.82 trillion market cap with sentiment sliding massively to "Neutral."</li>
 <li>Fall comes amid macro jitters including Yen strengthening against US dollar and rising oil prices on Friday.</li>
 <li>Risk-off sentiment amid tech stocks selloff and AI spending concerns and spot Bitcoin ETFs outflow.</li>
 <li>Bitcoin price trades below the 50-day moving average ahead of monthly crypto options expiry.</li>
</ul>
The crypto market is dropping today with market cap erasing earlier gains and sliding to $2.80 trillion, down nearly 110 billion over 24 hours. The Fear &amp; Greed Index indicating a sudden decline in sentiment as it slipped to Neutral (50) from Greed (68) in just a day. Bitcoin price extends its 48-hour fall to more than 4% to trade near $81,500 on Friday.
Moreover, Ethereum and XRP continue to remain under pressure amid headwinds including risk-off sentiment and macro jitters. Let’s look at the key reasons behind the latest fall in the broader crypto market.
<h2 id="crypto-market-drops-as-inflation-in-japan-reaches-9-month-high">Crypto Market Drops as Inflation in Japan Reaches 9-Month High</h2>
Japan’s annual inflation rate accelerated to 2.1% in September 2026 from 1.9% in the previous two months, marking the highest level since December 2025. Moreover, core inflation climbed to 2.1% from 1.7% in August, exceeding the Bank of Japan’s 2% target for the first time in nine months.
Bitcoin price and the crypto market dropped as rising inflation supports the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) monetary policy tightening. The BOJ is widely anticipated to leave interest rates unchanged in October, but another rate hike in December has high odds. <a href="https://coingape.com/markets/bitcoin-price-forecast-as-bank-of-japan-hikes-rates-to-a-31-year-high/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BOJ raised interest rates</a> from 1% to 1.25% recently.
The Japanese yen strengthened toward 156 against the US dollar on Friday, reaching its highest level in five weeks. US dollar index (<a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/dxy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">DXY</a>) has increased to 101.83 today as yen strengthened and Brent crude oil prices surpassed 113 on Friday amid Middle East tensions.
Meanwhile, the <a href="https://coingape.com/markets/bitcoin-price-outlook-as-u-s-israeli-strike-fears-grow-will-81k-hold/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">US and Israel are reportedly preparing plans</a> for renewed strikes after next month’s midterm elections. Experts claim Iran’s energy infrastructure would likely be a key target. However, both the US and Iran are open to easing tensions and seek ways to resolve transport in the Strait of Hormuz.
Gold prices briefly dropped below $4,000 on Friday, the lowest levels in nearly three months. <a href="https://coingape.com/gold-silver-ratio-might-take-a-run-to-new-ath-veteran-trader-peter-brandt-predicts/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Veteran trader Peter Brand suggests</a> weekly charts indicate a rise in the gold/silver ratio to 121.7.
<h2 id="tech-stocks-selloff-and-ai-spending-concerns">Tech Stocks Selloff and AI Spending Concerns</h2>
Meanwhile, the US 10-year Treasury yield (<a href="https://coingape.com/hsbc-rolls-out-hkd-redcoin-stablecoin-to-3-3m-payme-users-starting-today/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">US10Y</a>) climbs around 4.98% on Friday after falling by more than 10 basis points in a previous session. Deeper selloffs in tech and artificial intelligence stocks are prompting investors to seek safer assets, including government bonds.
Meta, Nvidia, AMD, <a href="https://coingape.com/spcx-stock-price-falls-5-as-200b-in-spacex-shares-unlock-for-trading/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">SpaceX and others fell</a> on renewed doubts about the returns and pace of AI capital expenditures. The crypto market is reacting to weakness in tech stocks, leading to selloffs in Bitcoin price and other crypto assets.
As a result, institutional and retail investors are selling spot Bitcoin ETFs and crypto ETFs. Notably, spot Bitcoin ETFs saw solid inflows earlier this week. However, the trend faded amid a recent tech rout, with $635.6 million in net outflows on Thursday.
BlackRock’s IBIT saw $254.1 million selloff and Fidelity’s FBTC recorded $217.5 million in redemptions. Institutional demand has not fully offset the macro pressure in the short term.
<figure style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HVSUYX0a4AAd_qo?format=png&amp;name=medium" alt="Spot Bitcoin ETF Outflows" width="797" height="549">
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 Spot Bitcoin ETF Outflows
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Moreover, spot Ethereum ETFs recorded total net outflows of $111 million and spot Solana ETFs saw $2.65 million in outflows. On the other hand, XRP ETFs continue to record inflows, with $3.55 million on Thursday.
<h2 id="crypto-market-volatility-amid-bitcoin-and-ethereum-options-expiry">Crypto Market Volatility amid Bitcoin and Ethereum Options Expiry</h2>
Around $1.31 billion in Bitcoin options and $250 million in Ethereum options expire today on leading crypto derivatives exchange Deribit. The put/call ratio stands at 1.03 for Bitcoin, with a max pain price of $82,000. For Ethereum, the ratio is 1.22, with max pain at $2,450.
The significant amount of options expiring today is adding volatility in the crypto market. However, the monthly crypto market expiry next week is a key event to watch for traders, with max pain at $78,000.
<figure style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img src="https://coingape.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-23-135942.png" alt="Bitcoin Monthly Options Expiry" width="886" height="348">
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 Bitcoin Monthly Options Expiry. Source: Deribit
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Bitcoin price is currently trading around $81,550, below the 50-day moving average at $81,835. The price needs to rebound above $89,500 for a major rally. BTC futures open interest also dropped below $54 billion amid latest liquidations across the crypto market.
Analyst CredibleCrypto expected a significant upside move in Bitcoin price. He predicted clearing the swing high at $90,500 in the coming days.
<figure style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HVSmKjTacAAFJ2-?format=jpg&amp;name=4096x4096" alt="Bitcoin Price Chart " width="890" height="538">
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 Bitcoin Price Chart. Source: CredibleCrypto
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Traders looking to conduct similar technical analysis on market trends can leverage <a href="https://coingape.com/crypto-tools-for-research/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">best crypto research tools</a> for real-time charting.
<a href="https://coingape.com/author/varinder-singh/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">About the author</a>
<a href="https://coingape.com/top-reasons-crypto-market-is-dropping-today/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Top Reasons Crypto Market Is Dropping Today</a> originally appeared on <a href="https://coingape.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CoinGape</a>

Top Reasons Crypto Market Is Dropping Today

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