Bitcoin had a bumpy stretch. After reaching roughly $83,800 on October 13, the flagship asset slid to a weekly trough near $80,100 two days later, as traders reacted to a hotter-than-forecast inflation reading and a sharp pullback in AI-linked stocks.
TL;DR
- Bitcoin dipped to about $80,100 before recovering toward $81,000 as hot inflation data and a tech sell-off weighed on risk assets.
- Crypto investment products lost $593.3 million in a week, with Ethereum funds hit hardest.
- MSCI’s new index rules could push Strategy and other bitcoin treasury companies out of its benchmarks.
- USDC gained EU “significant” status, while the White House lost its crypto adviser and the CLARITY Act stays stuck.
Bitcoin Slips, Then Steadies
Dip buyers emerged over the weekend, and BTC now changes hands near $82,000, about 0.6% lower over seven days. Bitcoin’s share of the overall market stayed between 59.7% and 60.4%. The total crypto market capitalization sits near $2.76 trillion, down 2.1% on the week, while the fear and greed index cooled from 56 to a neutral 49.
Digital asset investment products shed $593.3 million. Ethereum-focused funds accounted for $320.1 million of that, versus $228.4 million for Bitcoin products. Ether itself slipped from a $2,489 open to a low of $2,336 on Sunday and now trades near $2,403, a 3.4% weekly loss. Among other majors, XRP fell 4.7% and Solana lost 3.5% ahead of its Alpenglow upgrade, which Anza scheduled for October 21 and says will cut finality from about 12.8 seconds to roughly 150 milliseconds.
Still, BlackRock’s crypto ETF assets swelled 63% in the third quarter to $79.6 billion, though that remains 23% beneath the level of a year ago. The asset manager also filed for an iShares Bitcoin Managed Protect ETF, which would target upside exposure to IBIT with a measure of downside cushioning.
Treasury Companies Face An Index Showdown
MSCI confirmed a new screen for “non-operating” companies starting November 30, ending the temporary shield for firms holding more than half their assets in digital assets. A final list lands November 11. MSCI has named no one, but reports point to Strategy and Metaplanet. JPMorgan estimates Strategy could see up to $2.8 billion in outflows, and Michael Saylor has labeled the rule discriminatory.
The buying has not stopped. Strategy added 267 BTC, lifting its holdings to 848,517 BTC. Strive picked up 4,045 BTC, and BitMine acquired 12,535 ETH, pushing its stash beyond 6 million ETH.
Banks And Regulators Keep Building
The European Banking Authority designated Circle’s USDC as the first “significant” e-money token under MiCA, placing it under direct supervision from November 12. JPMorgan extended its JPM Coin deposit token to Ethereum, and Mastercard unveiled a multi-currency account for fiat and stablecoins, built on infrastructure from BVNK, which it acquired for about $1.8 billion. Allium data show stablecoin payments of roughly $482 billion in the first nine months of the year, up 45%.
In Washington, crypto adviser Patrick Witt is departing with no replacement named. The CLARITY Act has sat idle since failing a 49–50 cloture vote on September 15, and Congress is out until after the November 3 midterms.
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