Bitcoin price slips below $80,000 as AI selloff bites

The Bitcoin price retreated below 80,000 dollars on Monday, October 26, 2026, as wider risk aversion ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting and worry about the artificial intelligence trade weighed on cryptocurrencies. The largest digital asset fell as much as 1.4 per cent to under 79,300 dollars before paring some losses to trade around 80,000 dollars in afternoon trading in Asia. Smaller tokens also declined, with Ether, XRP and Solana among those lower.

Bitcoin price and the ETF outflow

Investors pulled 772.4 million dollars from US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs on Thursday and Friday, a sharp turn from more than 1 billion dollars of net inflows earlier in the week. The spot Bitcoin ETFs outflow figures show how fast sentiment changed as traders cut risk. CoinDesk reported Bitcoin near 79,800 dollars in Asian morning trade, down nearly 2 per cent, a snapshot that fits the wider picture of a market moving away from risk before the Federal Reserve decision.

The declines came with a wider market slump that ran on from last week, as investors questioned heavy spending on artificial intelligence and looked to earnings reports from large tech firms for clues about the outlook. In South Korea, the Kospi index, often watched as a guide to the AI trade, fell 0.2 per cent, and chip-related stocks were among the biggest decliners in the Nikkei in Japan. The selling in AI stocks and the selling that hit the Bitcoin price moved in the same direction on Monday.

Bitcoin price holds near $80,000 in Asia

Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets, said Bitcoin had so far stayed fairly steady against the AI debt worries weighing on all risk assets, and that market focus was now on the Federal Reserve meeting, followed by US midterm elections. Her comment points to a market waiting for a policy signal rather than trading on crypto news alone. The Bitcoin price stayed close to 80,000 dollars in afternoon trade in Asia after the early dip, which left traders watching whether the level would hold.

Pratik Kala, portfolio manager at Apollo Crypto, said Bitcoin sits in the risk-off basket for many systematic funds and algorithmic traders, which leaves it open to weaker sentiment. Kala pointed to online talk about artificial intelligence, including comments from SpaceX and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk about possible consolidation next year, as adding to market strain. He also said advances in AI had raised possible security risks for crypto, which made some investors cautious.

Bitcoin price and the wider risk mood

The pattern on Monday was not limited to one token. Ether fell, XRP fell and Solana fell, while most large tokens moved lower together. That broad move in the Bitcoin price fits a risk-off session, in which traders sell across risk assets at once rather than picking single names. The link to AI stocks matters here, since both markets have drawn the same kind of growth-focused money, and both have faced the same questions about spending and returns.

Traders will now watch the Federal Reserve meeting on October 27 and 28, and the earnings reports from large tech firms due this week. The decision, due on October 28, and the guidance that follows it, will shape how much risk traders are willing to carry into the rest of the week. The Bitcoin price ended the Asian session near 80,000 dollars, after dipping below that level earlier in the day.