Crypto 26.10.2026: BTC Below $80,000 Ahead of Fed

Global Crypto Market on 26th October: Bitcoin Slips Below $80,000 Ahead of Fed Meeting

On Monday, 26th October, the global cryptocurrency market experienced a cautious, risk-off day, with Bitcoin trading just under the $80,000 mark for most of the day, awaiting the US Federal Reserve's (Fed) interest rate decision on Wednesday, 28th October. According to CoinGecko data compiled by The Motley Fool and Yahoo Finance (26th October, 20:17 UTC), Bitcoin traded around $79,817 (approximately -0.28% in 24 hours and -2.4% weekly), while Ethereum was around $2,313.61 (approximately -0.58% daily and -3.5% weekly). The day followed a weekend with a sharp wave of forced position closures on Saturday, 24th October, and Monday's movements were relatively moderate. This article is a compilation of facts and a causal analysis, not investment advice.

Market Overview

Bitcoin's price fluctuated close to the $80,000 mark throughout Monday. According to KuCoin's daily report data (index as of 26th October, 00:00 UTC), BTC was quoted around $80,151 (approximately -0.91%), according to TokenPost data around $80,222 at 13:04 UTC (approximately -0.24% in 24 hours), but later in the day, according to Yahoo Finance's summary, it slipped to approximately $79,817. Differences between sources reflect different measurement times, rather than contradictions; the common picture is the price holding in the immediate $80,000 support zone. KuCoin's technical review cited the $79,600-$80,000 range as the nearest support and the $80,900-$81,000 level as resistance, while noting that the 30-day price volatility range had shrunk from approximately 13% to 6%, with the price holding in the $80,000-$86,000 corridor for almost two weeks.

Ethereum developed in a similarly weak tone on Monday. According to Yahoo Finance data, ETH traded around $2,313.61 (approximately -0.58% daily, -3.5% weekly), but according to KuCoin data, it was around $2,329.88 (approximately -1.23%) at the beginning of the day. Zerocap's weekly summary (26th October) estimated Ethereum's weekly decline at approximately -3.6% to around $2,322, which was a weaker performance than Bitcoin.

The altcoin segment was dominated by a slight decline with individual exceptions. According to Yahoo Finance data, Solana (SOL) traded around $100.30 (approximately -0.94%), XRP around $1.29 (approximately -0.5%), while BNB remained slightly positive - around $741.88 (approximately +0.1%). Individual assets stood out with opposing movements: according to Cryptorank data, Quant (QNT) was among the strongest of the day (the source summary mentioned approximately +3.2%, but the price window showed up to +14% - this discrepancy is not explained by the source, so the exact increase is considered uncertain), while Zcash (ZEC), according to Yahoo Finance data, maintained a weekly increase of approximately +8.8%, trading around $1,222.90.

Total market capitalisation was under pressure on Monday. According to TokenPost data (26th October), the total cryptocurrency market capitalisation decreased by approximately 2.83% to approximately $2.70 trillion, with a 24-hour trading volume of approximately $56.05 billion. Bitcoin dominance, according to TokenPost data, was approximately 59.5%, but according to Cryptorank data, approximately 58.0% - in both cases indicating Bitcoin's relative resilience against altcoins. Ethereum dominance, according to both sources, remained around 10.2-10.5%.

What Influenced the Market

Monday's cautious sentiment was primarily driven by the upcoming Fed interest rate decision. The Fed meeting took place on 27th-28th October, with the decision expected on Wednesday, 28th October. Market assessment of the outcome was wait-and-see: according to Zerocap data, keeping rates unchanged was priced in at approximately 94%, while Yahoo Finance mentioned an approximately 8% probability of a rate hike. Several sources indicate that market attention focused not on the decision itself, but on indications for the December trajectory and inflation path. CaptainAltcoin characterised this sentiment as anticipation, not panic, citing the Fear & Greed index at around 43 points (KuCoin mentioned 50 points on the same day).

The macroeconomic background maintained an unfavourable environment for risk assets. According to Zerocap data, Brent crude oil price on Friday, 23rd October, was approximately $116.72 per barrel (approximately +6% weekly) after geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, while KuCoin additionally noted US-Iran tensions as an inflation risk. Technology and artificial intelligence stocks were under pressure in the previous week - according to Zerocap data, Nasdaq fell by approximately 2.6% on Thursday, 22nd October, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index by approximately 6.7%. As cryptocurrencies often move in line with high-beta risk assets, this background maintained caution, although, as CaptainAltcoin notes, sources did not claim a direct causal link between stock and Bitcoin movements on Monday.

On the institutional flows side, exchange-traded fund (ETF) data showed a volatile week. According to Zerocap's summary, spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted capital at the beginning of the week (approximately +$526.6 million on Monday, over $1 billion net from Monday to Wednesday), but recorded an outflow of approximately -$635.5 million on Thursday, 22nd October - the heaviest single-session outflow since June. Despite this, the week ended with a net positive balance for Bitcoin ETFs. CaptainAltcoin, in turn, indicated that spot Ethereum ETFs lost approximately $225 million during the volatile period.

On the liquidity and leverage positioning side, Monday's movements were relatively moderate, but they followed a sharp wave of forced closures over the weekend. According to Coinpaprika data, on Saturday, 24th October, when Bitcoin briefly slipped to approximately $79,258-$79,280, approximately $436.44 million in positions were liquidated within four hours, of which long positions (betting on price increases) accounted for approximately $404.15 million; the total 24-hour volume reached approximately $815.26 million (approximately +218% against the previous day), affecting more than 201,000 traders, with the largest single liquidation being an Ethereum long position worth $11.85 million on Binance. On Monday, 26th October, liquidations were significantly smaller - according to CaptainAltcoin data, Bitcoin liquidations increased by approximately 186% to approximately $52.27 million, of which long positions accounted for approximately $33.79 million, while total open interest increased by approximately 13.2%, which the source interpreted as leverage building.

Exchange and Industry Events

On Monday, 26th October, public sources did not confirm new large-scale exchange incidents; the industry narrative was primarily driven by regulatory and infrastructure news. Several events remain as recent, precisely dated context. According to Zerocap's summary, JPMorgan activated its JPM Coin settlement instrument on the Ethereum network, while HSBC, as also noted by KuCoin, launched a regulated Hong Kong dollar stablecoin solution, RedCoin, initially for approximately 3.3 million PayMe users. On the Solana network, according to Zerocap data, the Alpenglow update (epoch 1064) was activated at the mainnet level, reducing transaction finality time to approximately 150 milliseconds. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to a KuCoin report, set audit priorities for fiscal year 2027, including tokenisation, cybersecurity, and the use of artificial intelligence.

In the regulatory background, the gradual implementation of the stablecoin framework continues. According to Zerocap data, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued the first final rule of the so-called GENIUS Act for payment stablecoin issuers, which will come into effect on 18th January 2027. South Korea, according to a KuCoin report, postponed cryptocurrency income tax for the third time (originally planned from 1st January 2027). We provide these dates and deadlines as context, not as fresh news for the review day.

Security Incidents

On Monday, 26th October, public sources did not confirm new, clearly dated large-scale security incidents. As a recent, precisely dated event in the industry's security background, the X100 Protocol attack stands out. According to CCN and Bitquery analysis, the attack occurred on Saturday, 24th October (first transaction around 14:11 UTC), and it was a governance exploit, not a private key theft: the attacker, using an approximately $1.94 million USDT flash loan from Aave, acquired governance tokens, gained a majority of voting rights, and forced the protocol's treasury to sell tokens at a minimum price set to zero. The more precise estimate of losses is approximately 4,846,108 USDT (approximately $4.85 million), while the X token, according to the source, lost more than 96% of its value as liquidity dried up.

In a broader context, 2026 has been a tough year for security. According to crypto.news's summary, decentralised finance (DeFi) has lost approximately $1.3 billion to hacker attacks in 2026, often repeating similar attack patterns. We provide this information as structural background, not as an event of the review day.

Context and Outlook

Monday's picture should be viewed in the broader weekly context: according to Zerocap data, this was Bitcoin's third consecutive weekly decline, with the price holding approximately 2% lower week-on-week. At the same time, implied volatility was elevated (according to Zerocap, one-week at-the-money implied volatility was approximately 36.6% on Friday), indicating the market's readiness for sharp movements around the Fed decision. Zerocap also pointed to a large Deribit options expiry scheduled for Friday, 30th October (approximately $10.9 billion in Bitcoin options), which could intensify volatility at the end of the week.

In the near term, market attention is likely to focus on several factors. Firstly, on the Fed's 28th October decision and, more importantly, on indications for the December trajectory, as keeping rates unchanged is largely priced in. Secondly, on this week's macroeconomic data block, which, according to KuCoin's summary, also includes the European Central Bank's decision and US inflation and GDP figures. Thirdly, on the resilience of institutional ETF flows after the volatile previous week. Several observers indicate that after the weekend's forced position closures and reduced volatility, the market may be sensitive to sharp movements in both directions if macro signals surprise. This article is an informative overview and should not be considered investment advice; always do your own research before making decisions.

Sources

• The Motley Fool / Yahoo Finance - "Crypto Market Today, Oct. 26: Bitcoin Slips Below $80,000 as Fed Decision Looms" (26.10.2026): https://www.fool.com/coverage/stock-market-today/2026/10/26/crypto-market-today-oct-26-bitcoin-slips-below-usd80-000-as-fed-decision-looms/
• TokenPost - "Crypto Market Cap Falls 2.83% to $2.70 Trillion; Bitcoin Was $80,222 at 9:04 a.m. ET Oct. 26" (26.10.2026): https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/41128
• KuCoin - "Crypto Daily Market Report, October 26, 2026" (26.10.2026): https://www.kucoin.com/news/articles/crypto-daily-market-report-october-26-2026
• Cryptorank - "Crypto Price Analysis, BTC, ETH, HYPE, QNT and ICP, October 26" (26.10.2026): https://cryptorank.io/news/feed/ea933-crypto-price-analysis-btc-eth-hype-qnt-and-icp-october-26-quant-gains-3-2-as-bitcoin-falls-below-80000-and-ethereum-weakens
• CaptainAltcoin - "Why is the Crypto Market Down Today (October 26)?" (26.10.2026):