Bitcoin Slips Below $80,000 as Tech Sell-Off Fears and Fed Concerns Hit Crypto

Bitcoin dropped below $80,000 during Thursday’s Asian trading session as weakness in major technology stocks and the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance triggered a broader retreat from risk assets. The decline reversed a two-day recovery and contributed to $356 million in cryptocurrency futures liquidations over 24 hours.

The largest cryptocurrency fell from above $81,700 to approximately $79,800, putting pressure on the wider digital asset market and forcing traders who had bet on higher prices to close their positions.

Technology Stock Weakness Spills Into Crypto

The sell-off gained momentum after U.S. markets closed on Wednesday, when Alphabet reported third-quarter revenue and operating income below analyst expectations.

The Google parent generated $127.58 billion in revenue, missing forecasts of $127.93 billion. Operating income reached $40.58 billion, below the estimated $43.16 billion. Earnings per share also declined to $2.12 from $2.87 a year earlier.

Google Services revenue came in at $96.30 billion, short of expectations of $98.40 billion. Its Search business generated $63.35 billion compared with the projected $64.85 billion.

Google Cloud was a notable exception, reporting $30.71 billion in revenue against an estimate of $29.10 billion. Despite the cloud division’s stronger performance, Alphabet shares fell 10% in premarket trading on Thursday.

Selling pressure extended into Asian markets, where Samsung shares dropped more than 5% after the company’s semiconductor division failed to meet elevated investor expectations.

Samsung’s chip business reported a 15-fold increase in operating profit to 106.5 trillion won for the three months ending in September. However, the figure fell slightly below analysts’ average forecast of 108.5 trillion won.

The company also projected capital expenditure of 84.4 trillion won, equivalent to approximately $63 billion, for the year, representing an increase of around 60%.

Although Samsung’s overall net income climbed 39%, the results disappointed investors. South Korea’s Kospi index declined by more than 2%, while Nasdaq futures fell 1.4%.

The downturn in technology stocks spread to digital assets, pushing Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana and numerous other cryptocurrencies lower as investors reduced exposure to riskier investments.

Fed Keeps Rates Steady as Hawkish Concerns Persist

The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.75%–4% overnight, a decision characterized as a hawkish hold.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh acknowledged that inflation is moving in the right direction but stressed that price pressures remain elevated. ING continues to anticipate another interest rate increase in December following the September hike.

Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s chief investment officer of global fixed income and head of its global allocation investment team, also urged caution. He advised investors against making an aggressive directional bet on the future path of interest rates.

“Real yields remain attractive, and there’s considerable income available across high-quality fixed-income markets,” Rieder said.

He added that BlackRock continues to favor a moderate duration strategy, allowing investors to benefit from current income opportunities while waiting for greater clarity about the economy’s unusual divergence.

For cryptocurrency markets, a persistently hawkish Federal Reserve could keep inflation-adjusted bond yields elevated. Higher real yields may make traditional fixed-income investments more appealing and restrict the flow of capital into speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies.

Crypto Futures Liquidations Reach $356 Million

Bitcoin’s drop below $80,000 intensified selling across cryptocurrency derivatives markets as leveraged traders faced mounting losses.

Market data showed that $356 million worth of crypto futures positions were liquidated over the preceding 24 hours. Long positions, which profit when prices rise, accounted for $205 million of the total.

Bitcoin futures recorded approximately $94 million in liquidations, while Ether futures saw another $72 million wiped out.

The figures highlight how quickly market sentiment shifted as technology-sector weakness and uncertainty surrounding monetary policy weighed on cryptocurrencies, reversing Bitcoin’s recent recovery and putting renewed pressure on leveraged bullish positions.

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