Bitcoin drops below $81,500 as tech sell-off spreads to Asian stocks
Bitcoin fell under $82,000 after U.S. tech shares slumped, according to The Block. Ether lost 3.5% and liquidations topped $440 million.
- published on Newsmetry
- original source published
the public page opens no earlier than 15 minutes after we detect the story. approved stories may reach the api sooner. connect the api →
what happened
Bitcoin slipped below $82,000 on Thursday evening along with the wider crypto market. According to The Block, it fell 3.4% over 24 hours to trade at $81,387. Ether dropped 3.5% to $2,388, XRP lost 3.8% and Zcash fell 7.7%. Liquidations totaled $440.9 million, $397 million of it from long positions, per CoinGlass data.
The move followed a sharp fall in U.S. equities. The Nasdaq Composite closed down 2.6%, its worst session since June, CNBC reported. The S&P 500 slid 1.21%, its weakest day since July. Tech stocks were pressured by worries about AI spending, with Meta down 6.98%, Micron off 6.26% and Nvidia down 4.4%. On Friday the selling reached Asia, where South Korea's Kospi lost 2.3% in morning trade and Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.6%.
Zeus Research analyst Dominick John told The Block that crypto is under macro pressure from weak tech earnings, geopolitical tensions and ongoing U.S.-Iran disputes. Rick Maeda of Laevitas said crypto is "trading as a high-beta tech position."
why it matters
The key point for markets is that bitcoin is currently behaving like a high-beta tech asset. Traders are watching whether $80,000 holds as support, the durability of ETF inflows and Friday's S&P Global Flash U.S. Manufacturing PMI, which could shift growth expectations and rate-cut bets.
market impact
Crypto and U.S. tech stocks: Nasdaq weakness is spilling into bitcoin, which trades as a high-beta asset
tags
instruments
sources
- Bitcoin slides below $81,500 as tech stock sell-off spreads to Asian equities — The Block, 23 October 2026 at 02:21 UTC
prepared by the newsmetry newsroom with ai assistance from the sources listed below. not investment advice.
the public page opens no earlier than 15 minutes after we detect the story. approved stories may reach the api sooner.
get stories in real time ↗