Bitcoin (BTC) News Today: Why BTC Is Down – 30 October 2026

Bitcoin news today centers on a hawkish Federal Reserve hold and a tech-led risk-off move that pushed Bitcoin below $80,000 on 29 October. Bitcoin is trading at $77,960.35, down 4.15% over 24 hours and 38.17% below its all-time high of $126,080.00.

Bitcoin news today: Fed hold and tech selloff weigh on prices

The Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate at 3.75%-4% on 28 October in a 10-2 vote, with Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack favoring a quarter-point increase. Bitcoin Foundation reported that the decision leaves another hike on the table for December. The 12-month PCE inflation rate rose to 3.6% from 3.4% a month earlier, according to Morningstar/Dow Jones.

On 29 October, BTC fell from above $81,700 to about $79,800 during Asian trading as weakness in technology stocks spread into crypto markets. CoinDesk cited Samsung's earnings disappointment as a trigger. Derivatives data across Binance, Bybit and OKX recorded $212.18M in liquidations over 24 hours, with longs accounting for $180.67M, or 85.1% of the total. The largest single four-hour interval, $188.23M, occurred at 8:00 PM UTC on 29 October.

Spot ETF inflows return at a modest pace

US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $110.3 million on 26 October and $176 million on 27 October, the first consecutive inflows since the 19-21 October run. BlackRock's IBIT accounted for $151.5 million of the 27 October total. Cointelegraph reported that October's net outflows had narrowed to about $26 million through 28 October. The inflows followed a $635.6 million withdrawal on 22 October, the largest single-day outflow since June.

Clarity Act stalls as regulators step in

The CFTC stated that Congress failed to deliver the Clarity Act to the President's desk and that the Senate did not advance the bill this month. The agency is proposing Regulation CTX and Regulation CAM in response. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at Ripple's Swell conference on 27 October that he would work with the SEC and CFTC to fill the gap left by the delayed legislation. The SEC also proposed custody rules that would allow advisers to hold client crypto directly only when qualified custodians are unavailable.

Franklin Templeton's two Bitcoin DRIP ETFs, FBEQ and FIBT, began trading on Nasdaq on 29 October.

Miners and on-chain activity

Bitcoin's hashrate averaged 1,074 EH/s over the seven days to 28 October, 6.8% below its October 2025 record. Miner revenue per unit of computing power remained about 23% lower than a year earlier. Publicly listed miners' actual hashrate fell about 15% in the first half of 2026 as some firms shifted toward AI cloud services.

On 28 October, a whale tracked by Arkham Intelligence deposited 438.37 BTC, worth $35.38 million, into Coinbase Prime. Strive purchased 6,182 BTC for $511.4 million at an average of $82,732 per bitcoin, lifting its holdings to 43,000 BTC.

Unconfirmed reports of a Binance security incident

Posts on X from 29 and 30 October described a large drain of funds from Binance hot wallets, with estimates ranging from $3.75 billion to $5.8 billion. These figures have not been confirmed by Binance or by independent on-chain analysis. Some researchers said the outflows were mainly from Ethereum wallets and that theft of native Bitcoin had not been confirmed. Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao reportedly said user funds are safe.

Bitcoin price today stands at $77,960.35, down 4.15% over the last 24 hours. Three overlapping pressures explain why Bitcoin is down today: a suspected security incident at Binance, a hawkish Federal Reserve hold, and a tech-led equity selloff that had already weakened risk appetite.

Binance outflows hit the market late in the session

Blockchain data showed a wallet labeled "Binance 14" moving 167,464 ETH, about $388M by Etherscan valuation, to a new address funded through Tornado Cash. Estimates of total outflows ranged from $2.77 billion to $5.8 billion, and Binance said it was actively investigating and had not confirmed any impact to user funds. Tether froze about $971M in USDT and Circle froze about $823M in USDC.

Within one hour, Bitcoin fell from $80,327 to $78,763, and about $628M in leveraged positions were force-closed. Long positions accounted for 97% of those liquidations. BNB dropped about 6% over the same period.

Hawkish Fed and equity risk-off

The Federal Reserve held rates at 3.75% to 4.00% in a 10-2 vote on 28 October, with governors Lisa Cook and Beth Hammack favouring a 25 basis point hike. Markets began pricing a possible December increase. Third-quarter GDP grew at an annualised 3.4%, above the 3.2% forecast, which reinforced the view that rates would stay high.

A selloff that began in Asian technology stocks, led by a Samsung-related risk-off move, spread into crypto. Mixed earnings from large technology companies added to the pressure.

Leveraged longs were flushed out

Across major derivatives venues, 24-hour liquidations totalled $277.57M, of which $235.07M (84.7%) were long positions. Open interest held at $53.56B, down only 0.13%, which means exposure changed hands rather than being cleared. Binance BTCUSDT global long accounts stood at 70.2%, a crowded positioning that made the sell-off more abrupt.

ETF flows and technical levels

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs lost about $773.5M on 22 and 23 October, then recorded inflows of $110.3M on 26 October, $176.0M on 27 October and $137.3M on 28 October. Thirty-day net flows remained negative, so institutional demand has not yet offset the recent outflows.

Bitcoin is trading below its 20-day and 50-day moving averages. Traders are watching $78,000 as the key support level, and Glassnode flagged downside toward $78,000 to $79,000.

Market context

Bitcoin's market capitalisation is $1.57T, ranked number one, and 24-hour volume reached $47.58B. Over seven days the asset is down 4.25% and over thirty days down 6.81%. The current price sits 38.17% below the all-time high of $126,080.00.

Ethereum fell 4.53% over 24 hours to $2,252.14, so the move is broad across large-cap crypto rather than specific to Bitcoin.

Bitcoin market sentiment is neutral with a cautious bearish tilt as of 30 October 2026. The Fear & Greed Index sits at 50, inside the neutral band, but it has fallen 17 points over the past week, and crowd positioning leans heavily long.

Social media and analyst tone

Bearish commentary dominates technical discussion on X. @eddyluxe_ described price below the 50-day moving average as a bearish breakdown with a $76K downside target. @Whisperer101 flagged a "bull trap" setup with a sharp downside move developing. Longer-term bears cite Benjamin Cowen's case for a correction into the low-to-mid $70K range.

Bullish voices focus on fundamentals and dip-buying. @PulsePaperboy highlighted Thailand's Supreme Court ruling that BTC is legal property and Bitwise's raised 10-year forecast of $1.6M. @fly_welinkBTC argued that profit-taking pressure is at its lightest, citing MVRV at 1.54 and NUPL at 0.38.

Trader positioning and derivatives

Retail positioning on Binance is skewed long. Long accounts make up 70.3% of the total, a long/short ratio of 2.37, compared with a 30-day average of 60.9%. Readings above 65% long have often preceded local tops, so this crowding works as a contrarian bearish signal.

Funding rates show only mild long bias at 0.0076% per day, well below the 0.03% level associated with overheated markets. Open interest stands at $53.64B, down 0.84% over 30 days, which suggests new leverage is not entering the market.

Options sentiment has eased. The one-week put/call skew fell from nearly 10% to below 1% ahead of the Fed meeting, although puts remain favored at one, three and six months. The 30 October expiry carries a put-to-call ratio of 0.56 and max pain at $78,000.

Liquidations point to recent downside pressure. Over the past seven days, $450.71M was liquidated, and the most recent 24 hours showed $5.48M, all in long positions.

Flows and on-chain activity

Spot Bitcoin ETFs logged three straight inflow sessions from 26 to 28 October, totaling about $423.6M, with BlackRock's IBIT accounting for most of the gains. This followed a $635.6M single-day outflow on 22 October, the largest since 25 June. Net flows over the last seven days still total $163.80M, modest against earlier inflow peaks.

Retail and whale behavior diverged. Retail deposits to Binance reached a six-month high, while whale deposits fell 36% from late August. A whale moved 438.37 BTC, about $35.4M, to Coinbase Prime on 28 October. The Coinbase premium stayed negative at -0.07% on 27 October, indicating muted U.S. spot demand.

Recent sentiment shifts

The ETF outflow shock of 23 to 26 October pushed commentary bearish, with analysts framing the outflows as a test of institutional support. Sentiment then alternated between "holds near $80,000" headlines and early bull market framing after the Fed decision.

The Fed held rates at 3.75% to 4% on a 10-2 vote, and both dissenters wanted a hike. Market odds of a December hike were cited at around 83%, while Q3 GDP of 3.4% and core PCE of 3.1% reinforced the hawkish read. Weakness in AI-linked tech stocks has also weighed on risk appetite. By 30 October, tone had moved back toward technical weakness, and no clear reversal was visible.

Bitcoin support and resistance levels cluster tightly around the current price of Bitcoin at $77,960.35. The asset fell 4.15% over 24 hours and trades 38.17% below its all-time high of $126,080.00. Bitcoin's trend on the daily chart is corrective, with lower highs forming after the October peak.

Momentum and moving averages

The daily RSI(14) stood at 36.28 on 30 October, near oversold territory but not yet in it. The daily MACD(12,26) read -41.77 on 29 October, a sell signal that points to fading upside momentum. The weekly RSI was 54.67 on 25 October and the weekly trend remained bullish, so the broader structure is intact while daily momentum weakens.

On the moving averages, price sits below the 50-day SMA of $81,856.74 and above the 200-day SMA of $73,058.86, according to data from 29 October. The 50-day average is the key medium-term pivot, and the 200-day average provides the nearest structural floor.

Key support levels

• $77,000–$77,765: The next major support per Bitfinex cost-basis analysis, and the zone price is currently testing.
• $76,400–$76,540: The daily EMA200 and the Galaxy 50-week average.
• $75,800: The short-term holder cost basis.
• $73,000: The 200-day SMA zone, which marks the main structural support on the daily chart.

Key resistance levels

• $79,200–$81,000: Former support now acting as overhead supply. Bitcoin broke down through this band, and $79,200 is the line that defines the breakdown.
• $81,400: Short-term resistance. The 27 October intraday high was $81,182.
• $82,000: Broken support that now acts as a resistance zone.
• $84,000–$85,000: The Glassnode cluster where long-term holders' cost basis sits, creating breakeven selling pressure.
• $87,000: The key upper barrier on the weekly-based chart.

Chart patterns

A contracting triangle formed during the correction. Bitcoin broke above it on 27 October on relatively low volume, then retested the breakout. The move failed after a hawkish Federal Reserve hold on 29 October, and price slipped below $80,000. The failed breakout confirms that no reversal pattern is in place on either the hourly or daily chart.

Volume and flows

Trading volume of $47.58B in 24 hours shows active participation in the decline rather than thin-market drift. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of about $423.6M across 26–28 October, according to HedgeCo, which partly offset the selling. Flow direction for October as a whole remains contested across sources.

Short-term outlook

Price is testing the $77,000–$77,765 zone. A failure there opens the $75,800–$76,540 area. Reclaiming $79,200–$81,000 would neutralize the bearish bias, and a sustained move above $82,000 is needed to shift momentum back to the upside.

Medium-term outlook

The 200-week average of $67,039 and the 200-day SMA near $73,000 define the longer structure, and price remains above both. The medium-term trend will turn constructive only if Bitcoin reclaims $81,000 and then $83,400 on a daily closing basis.