Bitcoin slipped below $80,000 on Saturday, October 24, 2026, its weakest level in more than a month. The drop was small in percentage terms, but it triggered a fast chain of forced selling among traders who had borrowed money to bet on higher prices.
Key facts
- Bitcoin touched about $79,300 around 11:20 a.m. New York time, then climbed back to roughly $80,100 by early afternoon. It was down about 2% over 24 hours.
- Ether fell close to 4%, to around $2,310. XRP and Solana dropped by similar amounts.
- In the four hours to 1 p.m. New York time, about $436 million in crypto futures positions were forcibly closed. Almost all of it, $404 million, was “long” bets on rising prices.
- That was the biggest four-hour wipeout of long bets since October 14.
What spooked the market
On Saturday morning, US media reported that the United States was quickly pulling staff out of embassies and military bases across the Middle East. US officials cited intelligence that Iran is preparing attacks against Americans. Earlier reports had mentioned staff cuts at US embassies in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Crypto trades around the clock, so it is often the first market to react to weekend news, while stock exchanges are closed.
How the selling snowballed
Many traders use leverage: they borrow to make bigger bets. When the price falls past a certain point, the exchange automatically sells their position to cover the loan. These forced sales push the price lower, which triggers more forced sales.
- Two short bursts did most of the damage: about $208 million of long bets were closed in 15 minutes around 10:15 a.m., and another $131 million around 11:15 a.m.
- Binance saw the most liquidations, about $226 million, followed by Hyperliquid with about $70 million.
- Over the full day, more than $815 million was liquidated, affecting over 200,000 traders.
ETF money was already cautious
US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $636 million leave on Thursday and another $138 million on Friday, after three days of inflows earlier in the week. Spot Ether ETFs have had outflows on 14 of 17 trading days in October.
Why it matters
Bitcoin is very sensitive to world events, especially on weekends when it is one of the few markets open. The size of the liquidations shows how much borrowed money was riding on prices staying high. When that money is forced out, moves get sharper in both directions. If tensions in the Middle East grow, more swings are likely in the days ahead.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice.
