Bitcoin Drops to One-Month Low Near $80,000 as Flash Crash Anniversary Nears

Bitcoin fell 4% over 24 hours to about $80,000 on Thursday, its lowest level in a month, as selling spread across the crypto market. The drop comes two days before the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 10, 2025, flash crash, one of the sharpest single-day declines in the market’s history.

Bitcoin Gives Back Its Early October Gains

Bitcoin’s move accelerated after a modest early decline, taking the price just above $80,000. It is now down more than 8% from the level it reached four days ago, when it came close to $87,000. The retreat erases most of the advance that followed the start of the month.

The decline follows a run of lower prices earlier in the week, when Bitcoin slipped below $83,000 as oil climbed and Treasury yields rose. Thursday’s drop extends that move by roughly three more percentage points.

A one-month low places Bitcoin back near the range it traded in before its early-October advance. Traders often watch round numbers such as $80,000 as reference points, and a close below the level would be the first in about a month, though the source reporting did not describe any specific technical target.

Smaller Tokens Fall Further

Other major tokens fell by more. Ether and XRP dropped about 6% over the past day, and Solana’s SOL lost about 9%. All three are down by double-digit percentages over the past week, a steeper decline than Bitcoin’s.

Larger moves in smaller tokens are common when the market turns lower, because those assets tend to trade in thinner markets and attract more leveraged speculation than Bitcoin. That pattern was visible on Thursday, when the declines in the rest of the sector outpaced the move in the largest token.

What Happened on Oct. 10, 2025

The anniversary adds a reference point for traders. On Oct. 10, 2025, Bitcoin fell from about $122,000 to $105,000, and lower on some exchanges, with much of the drop happening within minutes. The decline took place in thin Friday evening trade in the U.S., a period when fewer buyers are available to absorb large sell orders.

Only days earlier, Bitcoin had reached a record above $126,000. The speed of that fall, and the scale of the forced selling it set off, made it a defining event of the last cycle. In earlier coverage, the episode was linked to roughly $19 billion in liquidated leveraged positions, the largest such cascade on record.

Oil, Rates and Policy Add Pressure

Several other factors weigh on sentiment. Oil prices and interest rates have continued to climb, which could pull money away from risk assets such as Bitcoin, according to market participants cited in coverage of the move. Higher yields raise the return available from safer holdings, which reduces the appeal of assets that pay no interest.

Regulatory uncertainty is also part of the backdrop. The Clarity Act failed in the Senate last month, leaving the market-structure legislation the industry had pursued unresolved. The coming midterm elections could change the balance of power in Washington, which adds another unknown for crypto policy.

Institutions Are Turning More Positive

Institutional investors are showing more confidence in the long-term outlook for digital assets, despite the sell-off. State Street published a survey on Tuesday of 300 asset managers, asset owners and wealth managers. About 51% of respondents expect digital assets to become mainstream within five years, up from 11% in 2024.

The survey also found that institutions hold an average of 11% of their portfolios in digital assets and expect that share to rise over the next three years. The figures describe the stated views and holdings of the firms that responded, which is a sample of 300 institutions and not the entire market. They point to growing adoption even as prices have not broken higher.