Weekend Crypto Wrap: Bitcoin Tests $80,000 as Leveraged Longs Take the Hit

Here is a quick look at where things stood this weekend. Everything below comes from the sources listed at the end. I am not predicting anything.

The price snapshot

These are CoinGecko prices as of about 11:20 PM ET on Saturday, October 24, 2026:

• BTC: $80,930 (24h +0.05%, 7d -0.91%)
• ETH: $2,365.55 (24h -0.74%, 7d -1.74%)
• SOL: $102.52 (24h -0.14%, 7d -1.11%)
• DOGE: $0.0778 (24h -1.30%, 7d -1.91%)
• PYTH: $0.0711 (24h -0.02%, 7d -9.07%)

The homepage shows a live version of these numbers.

What happened on Saturday

Bitcoin briefly dropped below $80,000. The Block reported BTC fell to about $79,280 around 11:20 AM ET and was back at $80,138 by 1 PM ET.

Most of the damage landed on traders betting on higher prices. According to CoinGlass data cited by The Block, $436.44 million of positions were liquidated in the four hours to 1 PM ET, and $404.15 million of that was longs.

A liquidation is when an exchange closes a leveraged position because the trader's margin can no longer cover the losses. Ether was hit hard too: $136.72 million of ETH positions were liquidated, close to bitcoin's $158.45 million, even though ETH's market cap is only about 18% of bitcoin's.

ETF flows

U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded two straight days of net outflows. The Block, using SoSoValue data, reported $635.49 million out on Thursday and $137.94 million out on Friday. That is about $773 million over two days.

Those outflows came after $1.078 billion of inflows from Monday through Wednesday. So the week as a whole still finished with $304.73 million in net inflows.

Spot ether ETFs had a rougher stretch. They logged $220.60 million in net outflows for the week. The Block says they have seen net outflows on 14 of 17 trading days in October, totaling $1.175 billion.

One trader's move

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes wrote on X early Saturday, "I dumped it all," saying he closed out the directional book at his family office, Maelstrom. He also wrote that "it looks a bit dicey out there in macro and geopolitical land."

That is one person's decision about one portfolio. It is not a signal for anyone else.

What I am watching

I am watching the facts, not guessing. Do ETF flows keep leaning one way or flip back? Does leverage keep clearing out? The Block says open interest in crypto futures fell 2.2% to $140.10 billion over 24 hours, and total liquidations over that period were $815.26 million.

Weekends can be quiet or wild, and one wild day tells you very little by itself. I will keep posting updates on the homepage and on X.

Not financial advice. Do your own research.

Sources

• The Block, Crypto longs lose $404 million in four hours as bitcoin briefly slips below $80,000 (Oct 24, 2026)
• CoinGecko, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Dogecoin and Pyth Network price data via the CoinGecko API