Bitcoin back near $81,000 after $810M wipeout, Fed week next

Bitcoin climbed back to about $80,900 early on Sunday, recovering from a Saturday low of $79,146 — its weakest level in more than a month — after more than $810 million of leveraged crypto positions were liquidated in 24 hours, Investing.com reports. Traders now turn to the Federal Reserve's 27–28 October meeting, the main event of a crowded week.

Where prices stand

• Bitcoin: about $80,936 at 04:53 UTC, still below its 50-day moving average near $81,700. Support levels traders cite are around $78,400 and $77,876.
• Ether: down 0.56% at $2,369.
• XRP: up 1.63% at $1.31; Solana flat at $102.68; BNB up 1.14% at $748.60.

The price snapshot above is our own build-time CoinGecko data and may differ slightly from these quotes.

How the weekend selloff played out

Of the roughly $810 million liquidated, about $689 million were bullish bets, according to Coinglass data cited by Investing.com. Thin weekend liquidity amplified the move: once bitcoin slipped under $80,000, forced closures of leveraged longs fed further selling. We covered the first wave on Saturday, when $404 million of longs were wiped out in four hours. If liquidations and funding are unfamiliar, our explainer on perpetual futures shows how they work.

Oil adds to the pressure. Brent crude trades above $117 amid the Iran war, which feeds inflation worries and makes rate cuts less likely.

What to watch this week

• Fed decision, Wednesday 28 October: a hold is widely expected. A Crypto.com market note points to a Reuters poll in which 94 of 100 economists expect no change, after September's hike to 3.75%–4.00%. The bigger risk for crypto is the tone on December: a hawkish statement or press conference from Chair Kevin Warsh could lift odds of another hike.
• ETF flows: U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs took in about $301 million in the week to 23 October, per SoSoValue figures cited by Crypto.com, despite a $636 million outflow on Thursday. Monday's flows will show whether institutions are buying the dip.
• Treasury companies: firms such as Strategy and Strive are balancing bitcoin purchases against preferred-stock dividends, as we explained in our quick take.

None of this is a forecast: levels traders watch can break in either direction, especially on thin weekend volume.