Bitcoin remained below $80,000 Tuesday as traders entered a Federal Reserve policy week marked by a sharp recent decline, fund withdrawals and concerns around technology-sector financing.
At 11:53 UTC Tuesday (7:53 a.m. ET), CoinGecko’s BTC/USD reference was $79,771. Bloomberg reported that Bitcoin had returned toward $80,000 in the Asian afternoon Monday after briefly falling below $79,300; the decline reached as much as 1.4%.
Bloomberg also put withdrawals from U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds at $772.4 million across Oct. 22-23. The outflows came after net inflows earlier in the week topped $1 billion, the outlet reported.
Bloomberg quoted Apollo Crypto portfolio manager Pratik Kala saying many systematic funds and algorithmic traders place Bitcoin in a risk-off category, leaving those positions vulnerable to cuts when sentiment weakens. Orbit Markets co-founder Caroline Mauron told Bloomberg, “The market focus is now on the Fed meeting, followed by US midterm elections.”
Bloomberg placed the drop within wider risk-off trading and investor concern over AI valuations. Separately, the Associated Press reported that financing costs tied to data-center expansion and chip purchases had added pressure on technology shares. Investors are also assessing whether major AI outlays can produce returns. Alphabet and Microsoft are due to report results Wednesday, with Amazon scheduled for Thursday, AP reported.
Brent crude settled at $110.74 a barrel Monday, down 0.9%; AP said the settlement was among the strongest seen since the Iran war began. AP also reported that expectations of no rate change were a market view, not an announced Fed decision.
EconoTimes previously covered Bitcoin trading below $80,000 ahead of this meeting in an earlier report on the Oct. 27-28 session. The Fed’s calendar lists the two-day meeting for Oct. 27-28, with a statement scheduled for 2 p.m. ET Wednesday, Oct. 28 (18:00 UTC), followed by a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET (18:30 UTC).
