Bitcoin declined on Tuesday, extending recent losses and slipping below its recent trading range after MicroStrategy—the largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency—halted its purchases.
Caution ahead of this week’s Federal Reserve meeting has also led investors to remain generally reserved toward speculative assets, such as cryptocurrencies. Prices across the broader crypto market also trended mostly lower on Tuesday.
As of 08:43 Moscow time, Bitcoin was down 0.5% at $79,830.3.
A drop in oil prices provided little support to crypto markets, and an overnight rally in stock markets—driven by gains in tech shares—had little impact on cryptocurrencies.
Tuesday’s decline pushed Bitcoin below the $80,000–$87,000 trading range that had held over the past month.
MicroStrategy Pauses Weekly Bitcoin Purchases
MicroStrategy Inc. (NASDAQ: MSTR) did not purchase or sell any Bitcoin, nor did it sell any shares under its "at-the-market" offering program, during the week of October 19, 2026, to October 25, 2026.
As of October 25, 2026, the company held approximately 848,517 Bitcoins, acquired for a total of $64.02 billion—an average cost of about $75,446 per coin, including fees and expenses. Over the course of the week, the company repurchased 2,068,459 shares of its "Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred" (STRC) stock for a total of $204.9 million, funded from its US dollar cash reserves. No other classes of securities were repurchased.
Strategy did not disclose the reasons behind its decision not to acquire any new Bitcoin. However, this pause in purchasing has been perceived as a negative signal by the markets—all the more so given that the company had already sold off a portion of its Bitcoin holdings earlier this year.
Cryptocurrency prices today: Altcoins decline ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision
Prices across the broader cryptocurrency market fell on Tuesday as participants exercised caution ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision on Wednesday.
The central bank is expected to keep rates unchanged at 4.0%. However, the persistent resilience of inflation in the U.S. is likely to prompt a more hawkish tone from the regulator—a scenario unfavorable for cryptocurrencies.
Beyond the Fed, further signals regarding monetary policy are expected from the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan, both of which are also anticipated to adopt a hawkish stance.
Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, fell 0.6% to $2,307.01, while BNB dropped 0.3%.
XRP proved an exception, gaining 0.7% after its parent company, Ripple, received final approval from U.S. authorities to establish a national trust bank.
Solana lost 1.2%, while Cardano rose 0.4%.
Among memecoins, Dogecoin climbed 0.6%, and $TRUMP gained 1.7%.