Bitcoin, Altcoins Slide as Nasdaq Rout and Middle East Tensions Sink Risk Appetite

Bitcoin dropped more than 3% over the past 24 hours, sliding toward the $81,000 level as a sharp selloff in U.S. technology stocks and renewed Middle East hostilities dampened risk appetite across financial markets, dragging major altcoins lower with it.

As of early trading on Oct. 23, Bitcoin was at $81,245 on global data platform CoinMarketCap, down 3.76% from 24 hours earlier, according to BusinessKorea. The decline marked its steepest drop in more than a month. Nasdaq reported Bitcoin at $81,263.73, down 3.29%, as of early evening Oct. 22.

The move lower was driven by a combination of macro uncertainty, weakening institutional flows and leveraged positioning, Riya Sehgal, Research Analyst at Delta Exchange, said in comments reported by Indiatimes.

The downturn coincided with a sharp selloff in the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite. On Oct. 22 (local time), the index dropped 694.00 points, or 2.60%, its steepest single-day decline since early June, BusinessKorea reported. Growing doubts over returns on artificial intelligence investments contributed to the decline, with Meta shares falling approximately 7% despite earnings that exceeded market expectations, amid concerns over the company’s AI-related spending and cash flow.

Escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East added to market pressure. Reports that the United States and Israel were considering resuming military operations against Iran, alongside intensified attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, contributed to increased demand for safe-haven U.S. Treasuries, according to BusinessKorea. A separate summary from Benzinga also flagged reports of renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran as spooking investors on Thursday, Oct. 22.

Rising oil prices reinforced the risk-off tone. December Brent crude futures settled at $113.17 per barrel, up 4% from the previous session and reaching their highest level since May, BusinessKorea reported. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 19.3 basis points to 4.952%, marking its largest daily decline in three years and seven months.

Other major cryptocurrencies declined in lockstep. Ethereum was down 4.12%, XRP fell 4.77% and Solana lost 3.90%, according to BusinessKorea. Nasdaq reported Ethereum down 3.64% to $2,381.38 and Solana down 3.27% to $103.31. Among altcoins, Hyperliquid, Dogecoin and Cardano corrected up to 2.2% while BNB and Tron were up 0.1% and 0.2% respectively, per Indiatimes.

The global crypto market capitalization fell 0.8% to $2.80 trillion, Indiatimes reported.

Lorris Beziers, senior DeFi analyst at Tesseract Group, attributed the cryptocurrency selloff to risk aversion spreading from equity markets into digital assets, as reported by BusinessKorea.

Institutional flows showed mixed signals. U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) attracted $1.1 billion in net inflows this week, reversing two consecutive weeks of net outflows, BusinessKorea reported. However, on Thursday U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded approximately $636 million in net outflows, while Ether ETFs saw around $111 million leave the products, signaling softer near-term institutional demand, Sehgal said, as reported by Indiatimes.

Nischal Shetty, Founder of WazirX, said in comments reported by Indiatimes that crypto markets experienced an uneven week, with an initial recovery giving way to renewed selling pressure. Bitcoin traded near $83,460 on October 22 before slipping to approximately $81,198. Ethereum also weakened from around $2,452 to $2,388, falling below the psychological $2,400 level. The pullback coincided with weakness in U.S. equities, Shetty said, adding that heading into next week, attention remains on energy prices and ETF flows. Persistently elevated oil prices could complicate inflation expectations and weigh on hopes for monetary easing.

On South Korean exchange Bithumb, Bitcoin fell 0.56% over the same period to 108.98 million won, or approximately $82,417, remaining just above the 108 million won level. The so-called Kimchi Premium — the price premium Bitcoin commands on South Korean exchanges compared with overseas markets — remained at around 1%, BusinessKorea reported.

CoinMarketCap’s Fear and Greed Index stood at 48, indicating neutral sentiment, down sharply from 78, or greed, last month. Meanwhile, Cryprice’s index registered 68, indicating greed, highlighting differences in sentiment readings across data providers, per BusinessKorea.

Despite the short-term correction, some market participants remain optimistic about Bitcoin’s longer-term prospects. In a recent report, JPMorgan Asset Management projected an annualized return of 10% for Bitcoin over the next 10 to 15 years, compared with 7.5% for U.S. large-cap equities and 5.5% for gold, BusinessKorea reported. However, Bitcoin’s volatility, estimated at three times that of gold, remains a significant risk that could affect investors’ realized returns.

Pratik Kala, portfolio manager at Apollo Crypto, said Bitcoin had demonstrated notable resilience despite macroeconomic shocks and expressed optimism that its next major move would be upward, as reported by BusinessKorea.

Investors are now looking to the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for Oct. 27–28 for fresh signals on the market’s direction, BusinessKorea reported.