Bitcoin Price Teeters At $80,000 As Traders Wait On Fed

Bitcoin price traded near $80,000 on Monday, after falling about 2% earlier in the session. The price has dipped below that level several times in recent days and recovered each time.

Selling pressure has been building. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about $635 million in outflows on October 22. A brief drop below $80,000 last week also triggered roughly $800 million in liquidations of long positions, or bets that prices would rise.

The next major test to look out for is the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting, which ends October 28. The Fed raised its target range to 3.75% to 4% in September, and its minutes suggested another increase could come by year-end. 

Most recent market odds favor the Fed holding rates steady, though those odds have shifted. Traders are watching Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s remarks for signs of a December hike.

Higher interest rates typically pull money away from risky assets, including crypto. Broadly speaking, a hold could keep bitcoin price between roughly $80,000 and $88,000. A rate hike could push it toward the lower end of that range.

Bitcoin price backdrop

Geopolitical tensions are also weighing on markets. Oil rose above $100 a barrel in early September as strikes between the U.S. and Iran escalated. Higher energy prices feed into inflation, which affects the Fed’s decisions. 

In tech, Anthropic is reportedly preparing an initial public offering that could value the AI company near $965 billion. The timing has shifted toward the weeks before the November midterm elections, but no date has been confirmed. 

U.S. stocks surged a bit Monday as investors geared up for a busy week of Big Tech earnings and the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision. The Nasdaq rose 0.8%, the S&P 500 gained 0.6%, and the Dow climbed 0.3%. 

Alphabet and Microsoft report Wednesday, followed by Amazon Thursday, while markets largely expect the Fed to hold rates steady. 

AI-related stocks rallied following Anthropic’s IPO filing. Tesla jumped 6%, while Meta plans to raise up to $95 billion for AI investments. 

As of writing, bitcoin price trades at $80,215, down nearly $4,000 or 4.75%, on the month. Over the past month, prices have ranged from a high of $86,806.95 to a low of $79,397.76. Bitcoin price peaked above $86,000 in early October, then slid toward $80,000 in the second week of the month. 

A brief rally around October 21 pushed it back near $84,000, but those gains faded within days. Trading volume over the past 24 hours reached about $18.12 billion. 

Bitcoin price remains far below its all-time high of $126,277.05.