Bitcoin Breaks Below $80K: What the $810M Weekend Liquidation Flush Says About Positioning Before the Fed

Quick answer: Bitcoin dipped to roughly $79,146 on Saturday, October 24, its lowest print in more than a month, before bouncing back above $80,000. Coinglass data cited by Bitcoin.com News showed more than $810 million of crypto positions wiped out in 24 hours, about $689 million of them longs. Ether slid to around $2,332, XRP to $1.28 and Solana to about $101. The weekend didn’t change the macro calendar, but it did clear out some of the crowded long positioning we flagged on Friday. That matters because the Fed decides on Wednesday, October 28, and GDP and PCE follow on Thursday. A hold is the heavy favorite. The risk is in the tone, and in how thin the cushion under price now looks.

This is educational market analysis, not financial advice. Crypto is volatile and you can lose money. Do your own research before making any decision.

What actually happened over the weekend

Our week-ahead piece laid out the calendar and the ETF whiplash. This one is about what the tape did next.

Bitcoin spent Friday hovering just above $80,000 and gave way on Saturday. Bitcoin.com News put the low near $79,146, with a trading range of roughly $79,400 to $79,700 early in the afternoon before a recovery back above $80,000. The 24-hour move was about -2.3% to -2.5%. A separate Saturday write-up from The Crypto Basic had a low near $79,280 and a recovery to about $80,138 by 1 p.m. Eastern. The two lows differ by roughly $130, which is normal across venues and data providers, so treat both as approximate.

The wider market followed. Using the ticker values on the Bitcoin.com page (which may not match the article’s timestamp exactly):

• Bitcoin: about $80,300 at crawl time, down roughly 1.4%.
• Ether: about $2,332, down roughly 3%.
• XRP: about $1.28, down roughly 2%.
• Solana: about $100.94, down roughly 3.1%.

Cryptonews.net’s early Saturday note adds that XRP lost what it called key support below $1.30 after nearing $1.40 on Wednesday, and that Solana was hugging the $100 line. Round numbers like those draw stop orders, which is part of why moves through them tend to be faster than the news justifies.

For reference, Bitcoin’s Friday close was about $80,797 on NordFX’s count, which also put the week’s range at $80,512 to $84,879. That range reads oddly next to our earlier numbers, because different providers slice the week differently. The direction is what counts: Bitcoin spent the week failing at $85,000 and ended it below $80,000.

Reading the liquidation numbers

Liquidations get quoted as if they were a score. They’re closer to a symptom.

When a long position is liquidated, the exchange force-sells it. That selling pushes price lower, which trips the next batch of leveraged longs, and so on. The cascade stops when the supply of forced sellers runs out. According to Coinglass figures in the Bitcoin.com report, more than 200,000 traders were liquidated in 24 hours. The Crypto Basic counted $436 million across a four-hour window ending 1 p.m. Eastern, with $404 million of it longs, including about $158 million in Bitcoin and $137 million in Ether.

Notice the Ether share. Ether longs took nearly as much damage as Bitcoin longs in that window, even though Ether’s market value is a fraction of Bitcoin’s. That suggests Ether positioning was more stretched relative to its size. It fits with what the ETF data showed last week, when Ether funds were net negative while Bitcoin funds were net positive over five sessions (a figure we flagged as single-sourced in the earlier piece).

One honest caveat: the 24-hour totals ($810 million) and the four-hour window ($436 million) cover different periods and different sources, so don’t add or compare them directly.

What the flush does to positioning

On Friday we noted open interest near $38.4 billion and an OKX long/short ratio above 2, meaning the crowd leaned long. That was a single-sourced Friday report, and I haven’t found a fresh weekend reading for open interest or funding rates, so I won’t pretend to know where they sit now.

What we can say is directional. Roughly $689 million of longs disappearing in a day means some of that lean has been corrected. A smaller pile of leveraged longs generally means a smaller pile of forced sellers if price drops further. It doesn’t mean the market is clean. A bounce from $79,000 on a weekend, with thinner liquidity than weekday trading, isn’t much of a signal on its own.

Think of it this way. If you were long with a tight stop under $80,000, you’ve probably already been taken out. If you were long and wide, you’re still in and you’re now sitting on the 50-day average as resistance rather than support.

The levels traders will watch on Monday

Here’s the technical map from the sources I could verify, with the usual warning that levels are opinions, not laws.

• Resistance: the 50-day moving average near $81,700 to $81,800 (Bitcoin.com, NordFX). Beyond that, $82,550 and the $84,900 area that capped the week.
• Support: NordFX lists $80,400 and $79,700, now both tested. Bitcoin.com points to $78,400 and $77,876 next, with a broader zone from $76,700 to $72,500.
• Ether: NordFX had support at $2,350 and $2,200, and resistance at $2,444 and $2,520. Ether is already trading under $2,350, so the next stop on that map is $2,200.

Commentator Peter Schiff said Bitcoin is “finally breaking down” and pointed toward $75,000. That’s one critic’s view, and he has been publicly skeptical of Bitcoin for years, so weigh it accordingly. A move to the $77,000s would simply match the support levels analysts were already drawing.

The macro backdrop that made the weekend hurt

Bitcoin didn’t fall in a vacuum. Bitcoin.com noted Brent crude above $117 on Saturday, and NordFX had Brent at $116.93 on Friday’s close and the 10-year Treasury yield near 5.0%. Those two numbers explain why markets are debating rate hikes rather than cuts. Energy costs feed inflation, and a 5% ten-year yield competes directly with speculative assets for capital. (The oil and yield figures are each from a single source here, so verify them against a live quote.)

That’s the context for the calendar. Using Newsquawk’s week-in-focus and NordFX’s schedule:

• Tuesday, October 27: FOMC meeting begins. US durable goods (September), plus Richmond and Dallas Fed surveys.
• Wednesday, October 28: Fed decision at 2:00 p.m. Eastern, then a press conference. Bank of Canada and RBNZ also decide. The UK Autumn Budget lands the same day.
• Thursday, October 29: ECB decision. US Q3 GDP (advance) and September PCE at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
• Friday, October 30: Bank of Japan decision.

NordFX names Kevin Warsh as Fed Chair giving Wednesday’s press conference. I only found that in one source, so confirm it before quoting it anywhere.

What markets are pricing for the Fed

The odds have moved since our Friday article. Newsquawk put the CME-implied chance of a hike at October’s meeting near 10%, and a Reuters poll found 94 of 100 economists expecting a hold at 3.75%-4.00%. NordFX had futures odds of an October hike down to about 7-8% from roughly 52% a week earlier, with a December hike at around 80-90%. The sources use different snapshots, but they agree on the shape: October is a hold, December is the debate.

So Wednesday isn’t really about the rate. It’s about three things:

1. Dissents. Newsquawk flags Hammack, Logan and Kashkari as possible votes for a hike, since all three backed one in July. Each dissent would nudge December odds higher.
2. The press conference. If the Chair signals that December is effectively decided, markets may reprice before the data even arrives.
3. The reaction function. With Brent over $117, officials have a hard time sounding relaxed about inflation.

Thursday’s data: why PCE matters more than usual

Consensus for the Q3 advance GDP is 3.0% annualized, up from 2.2%, per Newsquawk. The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow was at 3.5% and Continuum Economics forecasts 2.8%. For September PCE, consensus is +0.5% month over month headline (3.6% year over year) and +0.3% core (3.1% year over year). Bank of America is at +0.34% on core.

Why should a crypto reader care about a core PCE decimal? Because it’s the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. A core print at 0.3% matches expectations and leaves December as is. A 0.4% reading would likely push December odds toward certainty, and crypto has been reacting to rate-path repricing more than to crypto-specific news.

Strong GDP cuts both ways. It supports earnings and risk appetite, but it also gives the Fed room to keep tightening. That’s the uncomfortable part of this setup.

Three scenarios, not predictions

Imagine you’re watching Wednesday afternoon from your phone. Here are three ways it could go, with no probabilities attached because nobody honestly knows them.

• Quiet hold, no dissents: relief rally toward the 50-day near $81,800, possibly $82,550. Thin weekend-style liquidity makes squeezes of shorts possible.
• Hold with hawkish dissents: a retest of $79,700 and $78,400, with Ether leading lower given its heavier long exposure.
• Hold plus a hot PCE on Thursday: a second leg down through the $77,000s, the kind of move Schiff is calling for.

The practical lesson is the same as last week. Leverage turns ordinary volatility into forced selling. Size positions so a $1,500 swing in Bitcoin doesn’t decide whether you stay in the trade.

Frequently Asked Questions

How low did Bitcoin go over the weekend?

Bitcoin.com News reported a Saturday low of about $79,146, the lowest in more than a month. The Crypto Basic had a low near $79,280. Price recovered above $80,000 later that day.

How much was liquidated in the crypto selloff?

More than $810 million in 24 hours, including about $689 million of long positions, according to Coinglass data cited by Bitcoin.com News. A separate four-hour count showed $436 million.

Will the Fed raise rates on October 28?

A hold at 3.75%-4.00% is the consensus. Newsquawk cites about a 10% market-implied chance of a hike and a Reuters poll with 94 of 100 economists expecting no change. December is where the debate sits.

What are Ether, XRP and Solana trading at?

On Saturday afternoon, roughly $2,332 for Ether, $1.28 for XRP and $101 for Solana, per the Bitcoin.com ticker. These move constantly, so check a live quote.

What time is the PCE report?

Thursday, October 29, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, alongside the advance Q3 GDP estimate, per NordFX.

Key Takeaways

• Bitcoin touched about $79,146 on Saturday before recovering above $80,000, with ETH near $2,332, XRP near $1.28 and SOL near $101.
• More than $810 million was liquidated in 24 hours, mostly longs, which trims some of the excess leverage flagged on Friday.
• Resistance sits at the 50-day average near $81,800; support is $79,700, then $78,400 and $77,876.
• The Fed is expected to hold on October 28. Dissents, tone and December odds matter more than the decision itself.
• GDP (about 3.0%) and PCE (core +0.3%) arrive on October 29 with oil above $117 in the background.

Sources and further reading

• Bitcoin.com News: Bitcoin price sinks to $79,146 as liquidations rock weekend trading (Oct 24, 2026)
• The Crypto Basic: TCB Daily Edition, October 24, 2026
• Cryptonews.net: Bitcoin tanks toward $80K, XRP loses key support (Oct 24, 2026)
• NordFX: Forex and crypto forecast, October 26-30, 2026
• Newsquawk: Week in Focus, October 26-30, 2026
• Earlier on FiscalFrontier: the $550 million long flush after the Fed minutes

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile. Always do your own research (DYOR) and consider speaking with a licensed professional.

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