Bitcoin Retests $80,000 as Fed Week Opens With Investors Cutting Risk

Bitcoin slipped below $80,000 again during Asian trading Monday before recovering much of the decline, leaving the market near a closely watched round number ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision. Bloomberg reported an intraday fall of as much as 1.4% to below $79,300. By CoinDesk's 7:24 a.m. Eastern report, the cryptocurrency was around $80,400 and little changed since midnight UTC.

That sequence matters more than a headline describing only the low. Monday brought another test of demand near $80,000, rather than an uninterrupted fall or a confirmed breakout. Unchained's earlier report put Bitcoin at $80,440 at 9:40 a.m. UTC, approximately 0.4% higher over 24 hours. Different observation times and comparison windows explain why a recovering market can carry both positive and negative percentage changes.

Bloomberg linked the initial pressure to caution ahead of the Fed and unease over the AI investment trade. The relationship is a market interpretation, not evidence that one technology announcement mechanically determines Bitcoin's price. Our guide to leverage and crypto liquidations explains how positioning can amplify an initial move without establishing what caused the first sale.

The Fed decision is still ahead

The Federal Reserve's official calendar places its next meeting on October 27–28, with the decision due Wednesday. No decision had been announced when Monday's market reports were published. Expectations about rates should therefore be distinguished from an actual policy change. Traders can reposition for an anticipated outcome and still react sharply to different guidance.

Unchained reported that futures favored an unchanged rate at that meeting. Such pricing describes contracts and assumptions at a particular moment; it is not a commitment from policymakers. Our explanation of rate-futures probabilities sets out how those estimates are derived and why they can change as new information arrives.

For Bitcoin, the relevant channel is the price and availability of capital. Changes in expected borrowing costs and the appeal of interest-bearing assets can alter demand for speculative holdings. There is no fixed formula converting a policy rate into a Bitcoin price. The response also depends on how much of the eventual decision investors have already anticipated.

ETF withdrawals came before Monday's trading

Farside Investors' table showed net withdrawals of $635.6 million from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs on Thursday and $137.9 million on Friday. Added together, the displayed daily totals equal $773.5 million. The same table showed $1.0747 billion of inflows across Monday through Wednesday, leaving the full week positive by approximately $301.2 million.

The contrast is useful: a positive weekly total can conceal a deterioration over the final two sessions. It also prevents Friday's data from being described as fresh Monday outflows. The figures reviewed here cover completed prior sessions, not a result for the U.S. trading day that had yet to finish. The provider's automatically generated data can also be revised.

Our guide to spot Bitcoin ETFs explains why fund subscriptions and redemptions are relevant to demand. They are one channel, alongside trading on crypto exchanges and other investment vehicles. A daily flow figure does not identify every buyer or seller in the broader market, and it cannot by itself prove the cause of an intraday price change.

A recovery is not yet a change in trend

Other large cryptocurrencies were also under pressure during the early session, including Ether, XRP and Solana, according to Bloomberg. Bitcoin's subsequent recovery showed buyers were still willing to transact around the $80,000 area. It did not establish a floor that must hold through the week's policy announcements or changes in broader risk appetite.

The next useful evidence will be whether the recovery persists through U.S. trading, what completed ETF-flow figures show, and how the market responds to the Fed's actual statement. Until then, Monday's move is best read as a dip and partial recovery within a cautious market, with prices tied to explicitly stated observation times rather than presented as live quotes.