Bitcoin, Altcoins Slide as Wall Street Selloff, Geopolitical Jitters Sap Risk Appetite

Cryptocurrencies tumbled on Oct. 22-23 as a rout in U.S. technology stocks and renewed geopolitical risk in the Middle East sent investors fleeing risk assets across markets.

Bitcoin fell 3.76% over 24 hours to $81,245 as of 8 a.m. on Oct. 23 on data platform CoinMarketCap, according to a report by BusinessKorea, marking its steepest single-day decline in more than a month. On digital asset data provider Nasdaq’s tracker, Bitcoin was last at $81,263.73, down 3.29%, while Indiatimes reported the token near $80,685.

Ethereum dropped 4.12% to $2,381.38, a 3.64% decline per Nasdaq data, while XRP fell 4.77%, Solana lost 3.90% and Dogecoin also corrected, per BusinessKorea. Indiatimes reported a similar broad-based move, with altcoins including Hyperliquid and Cardano falling as much as 2.2%.

**Equity market rout spills over**

The selloff tracked a sharp decline in the Nasdaq Composite, which fell 694.00 points, or 2.60%, on Oct. 22 — its steepest single-day drop since early June, according to BusinessKorea. The tech-heavy index was hurt by growing doubts over returns on artificial intelligence investments. Meta Platforms shares slid about 7% despite reporting earnings that beat market expectations, as investors focused on the company’s AI-related spending and cash flow.

“The pullback has been driven by a combination of macro uncertainty, weakening institutional flows and leveraged positioning,” said Riya Sehgal, Research Analyst at Delta Exchange, as quoted by Indiatimes.

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

**Geopolitical tensions add pressure**

Reports that the United States and Israel were considering resuming military operations against Iran, alongside intensified attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, fueled demand for safe havens. December Brent crude futures settled at $113.17 per barrel, up 4% from the previous session and the highest since May. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 19.3 basis points to 4.952%, its largest daily decline in three years and seven months, BusinessKorea said.

The conflict-driven rise in oil prices added to concerns over inflation and monetary policy. “Persistently elevated oil prices could complicate inflation expectations and weigh on hopes for monetary easing,” said Nischal Shetty, founder of Indian exchange WazirX, as quoted by Indiatimes.

**Divergent signals from ETF flows**

Data on institutional flows provided conflicting signals. BusinessKorea reported that U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds attracted $1.1 billion in net inflows this week, reversing two consecutive weeks of net outflows. In contrast, Indiatimes quoted Sehgal saying that U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded approximately $636 million in net outflows on Thursday, while Ether ETFs saw about $111 million leave the products.

**Sentiment and outlook**

The market’s mood has turned cautious. CoinMarketCap’s Fear and Greed Index stood at 48, indicating neutral sentiment, down sharply from 78 (greed) last month, per BusinessKorea. A separate measure from Cryprice registered 68, still in greed territory.

The so-called Kimchi Premium — the price premium of Bitcoin on South Korean exchanges versus global markets — remained at around 1%.

Despite near-term weakness, some participants see longer-term value. 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. The bank noted Bitcoin’s volatility remains about three times that of gold.

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

Investors now await the Federal Open Market Committee meeting scheduled for Oct. 27-28 for fresh signals on the market’s direction.