Bitcoin spent the weekend testing a level it had held for weeks. It fell as low as $79,146 on Saturday, its weakest point in more than a month, before climbing back above $80,000. Thin weekend liquidity made things worse, since leveraged positions were forcibly closed once the price dropped under $80,000. By Monday evening in New York the market had sagged again. Bitcoin was at about $79,817, Ethereum at $2,313.61 and Solana at $100.30. Tuesday morning prices were still near $79,769, with traders pointing to support at $79,000 and $78,000 and resistance close to $80,800.
The reason for the caution is on the calendar. The Federal Reserve announces its decision on October 28, and traders put the odds of an unchanged rate at about 90.6%. A hold is not the real worry. The Fed raised its benchmark rate last month to a range of 3.75% to 4%, its first increase since 2023, and Chair Kevin Warsh gave little away about the next step. Warsh has said he intends to drop forward guidance altogether, so the wording of Wednesday's statement and his press conference carry extra weight.
Fund flows are sending mixed signals. SoSoValue data showed spot Bitcoin ETFs taking in $110.34 million, which ended a two-day outflow streak led by BlackRock. Ethereum, XRP and Solana ETFs all recorded net outflows. Exchange data looks calm. Mudrex said only 19,800 BTC moved onto exchanges over 24 hours, which suggests holders are not rushing to sell.
Some of the week's more durable news came from the regulatory side. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency formally approved Ripple National Trust Bank, which will support the RLUSD stablecoin and institutional digital asset custody. The bank first received conditional approval in December 2025, shortly after the GENIUS Act put U.S. stablecoin rules in place. Circle, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos received conditional nods in the same round, over the objections of some bank groups.
Tokenization keeps growing in the background. Solana reached a record 1.5 million holders of tokenized equities, up fivefold since August. Franklin Templeton plans to launch two Bitcoin ETFs with dividend reinvestment features, and Latvia intends to introduce rules for tokenized real-world assets in the first half of 2027.
This is a news report, not investment advice.
