Crypto Pulse: October 26, 2026 — Bitcoin Slips Below $80,000 Ahead of the Fed

4 min read

Bitcoin slipped below $80,000 on Monday, ending the day on the soft side of a narrow board as traders waited for the Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday. In Market Briefer’s delayed snapshot at 5:15 p.m. CDT, Bitcoin traded at $79,899, down 0.54% over 24 hours, Ethereum fell 1.29% to $2,307 and Solana fell 1.20% to $100.25, while only Dogecoin and Cardano finished positive among the majors tracked on Market Briefer’s Crypto desk.

The moves were modest, and that is part of the story. Nothing fell by more than 1.29%, yet Bitcoin’s position just below a round level it dipped under during the Asian morning, and a second straight day of outflows from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs on Friday, left the market watching flows and the Fed rather than any crypto-specific development. Oil’s retreat, reported by CoinDesk, eased one source of pressure without lifting the board.

The board below is Market Briefer’s delayed market data, sourced from CoinGecko and delayed by about 15 minutes, as of 5:15 p.m. CDT on Monday, October 26, 2026, ordered by 24-hour move, biggest first.

Dogecoin led the majors, rising 0.19% to $0.077, followed by Cardano, up 0.03% to $0.205. TRON eased 0.25% to $0.329 and Bitcoin eased 0.54% to $79,899. Solana fell 1.20% to $100.25 and Ethereum fell 1.29% to $2,307, the weakest print on the board. Read as a whole, the board describes orderly drift lower in the largest coins rather than broad selling, with every decline contained within a little more than one percentage point.

The week’s flow story was a reversal inside a positive week. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs finished last week with about $301 million of net inflows, snapping a two-week outflow streak, according to Cointelegraph on October 26, citing Farside Investors data. That weekly gain was built in the first three sessions, when the funds drew about $1.08 billion as Bitcoin climbed to a weekly high of $84,777 on Wednesday, according to CoinGecko data cited by Cointelegraph. Investors then withdrew about $774 million on Thursday and Friday as Bitcoin retreated toward $80,000, leaving October’s net flows at about $314 million of outflows, Cointelegraph reported, again citing Farside Investors.

CoinDesk, in its October 26 market report, put Friday’s piece of that reversal at $138 million of outflows, taking the two-day exit to $772 million, according to Farside Investors data. CoinDesk also reported that Bitcoin steadied near $80,400 during the day after dipping to around $79,300 in the Asian morning, little changed since midnight UTC, and that ether slipped 0.2% in that earlier window. By the 5:15 p.m. CDT snapshot Bitcoin had slipped back below $80,000, while the scale of the move remained small.

Cointelegraph added that U.S. spot Ether ETFs recorded a fourth consecutive week of net outflows, shedding about $221 million last week, according to Farside Investors data. That pattern lines up with the board, where Ethereum was the weakest major on the day. It also sharpens the contrast within the flow data: Bitcoin products recovered to a weekly inflow despite the late sell-off, while Ether products did not. Market Briefer’s explainer on Bitcoin vs Gold sets out why Bitcoin is judged against a defensive asset it does not reliably behave like in stressed sessions, a useful contrast on a day when the board moved with macro expectations rather than its own news.

What to watch is concentrated in the middle of the week. Bitcoin’s $80,000 level is the board’s immediate reference point, with Monday’s Asian-morning dip to around $79,300, reported by CoinDesk, marking how far below it trading reached intraday, and Solana’s $100.25 snapshot leaves it just above $100, while Ethereum at $2,307 sits well below the $2,400 level it traded near last week. The scheduled test is the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Tuesday, October 27 and Wednesday, October 28, with the decision due at 2:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday. CoinDesk reported that the CME FedWatch tool showed a 90% chance of no change on Wednesday and around an 80% chance of another increase in December, after the Fed raised rates in September, so the statement’s wording and any guidance on December may matter more than the decision itself. Daily U.S. spot ETF flow prints after each session are the crypto-specific check alongside it: a return to inflows would extend last week’s weekly recovery, while another large outflow would deepen October’s net withdrawal.

Educational content — not investment advice. Crypto Pulse is AI-assisted research produced with automated data checks; figures are verified against the cited sources at publication time.