Bitcoin Dips Below $80,000 Ahead of Fed Decision as Buyers Hold the Line

Bitcoin slipped below the $80,000 mark on the evening of October 26, easing 0.28% to $79,817.06 as traders trimmed risk ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision on October 28. Ethereum fell 0.58% to $2,313.61 and Solana slipped 0.94% to $100.30 in the same session, while the crypto-linked exchange-traded funds echoed the softer tone: the iShares Bitcoin Trust fell 1.61%, the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund fell 1.66% and the iShares Ethereum Trust fell 3.22%. Yet the dip did not turn into a rout: Bitcoin ended the UTC day essentially flat at $80,006, after a $79,309-$80,646 range, and was back near $80,130 by the start of October 27.

The pattern underneath the headline is what matters. KuCoin’s October 27 market report describes repeated sharp downside wicks that found buying support each time in the $79,400-$79,600 zone, only for advances to stall near $80,800. That is a market building a base: sellers can push the price down but not keep it down, and buyers will not chase it higher. Support is $79,400-$79,600, resistance is $80,500-$80,800, and a decisive break of either side will say more than another day inside the range. The wider market was mixed rather than panicked: 24 of the 50 largest assets rose and 20 fell, total crypto market capitalisation stood at $2.64 trillion, and Bitcoin’s share of the market was 60.7%.

Two forces explain the caution. The first is profit-taking after a strong finish to the third quarter, when several major tokens rebounded by double-digit margins from their summer lows, combined with geopolitical tension and elevated oil prices that have kept risk appetite in check. The second is the calendar itself. With markets pricing a 90.6% chance that the Fed leaves rates unchanged, the decision is less likely to surprise than the guidance that comes with it, particularly any signal about December. That is why crypto is moving with macro expectations this week rather than on its own news, and why volatility is likely to stay elevated until the Fed has spoken.

Look past the price, and the infrastructure story moved the other way. Hong Kong approved secondary trading of publicly offered tokenised funds on a licensed platform for the first time, Latvia plans a tokenised real-world-asset framework in early 2027, and the US approved Ripple National Trust Bank for stablecoin and custody services. Yet California’s regulator pushed back against a proposed federal crypto framework, and South Korea may postpone its crypto gains tax a fourth time. Tokenisation is being wired into mainstream finance piece by piece, while who governs it remains contested.

What to watch next is a short checklist, not a prediction. First, the Fed decision on October 28 and what it says about December. Second, whether Bitcoin holds $79,400-$79,600 on any retest or breaks above $80,800. Third, whether the funds return to inflows after their soft patch, and whether Ethereum, down 4.2% over the past week against Bitcoin’s 2.8%, closes that gap. The Fear & Greed Index at 48, down from 50, sums up the mood: neutral, not fearful, waiting for a reason to move. Weeks like this are exactly when position sizing matters, and our forex tools include calculators for planning risk before a volatile event, while the free forex course covers support, resistance and risk basics that apply to crypto too. (Not financial advice.)