Bitcoin holds near $80,000 on Monday ahead of Fed decision; ether down about 1.4%

Bitcoin traded close to $80,000 on Monday 26 October, as traders awaited the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision on Wednesday.

As of 18:00 GMT, bitcoin was at about $80,238, down 0.6% over 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. Ether was at about $2,323, down 1.4%, while solana was at about $101 and XRP at about $1.30.

Bitcoin fell nearly 2% to about $79,800 during Asian trading hours on Monday and dipped to around $79,300 before steadying, CoinDesk reported. The weekend low was $79,146.

CoinDesk reported that US spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds had $138 million of net outflows on Friday, bringing outflows over Thursday and Friday to $772 million, citing data from Farside Investors. It also reported that Arthur Hayes said his Maelstrom fund had sold its entire directional portfolio, including 6,400 ether, over the weekend, citing macroeconomic and geopolitical risk.

The Fed raised rates in September. The CME FedWatch tool showed a 90% probability of no change on Wednesday and about an 80% probability of a rise in December, CoinDesk said. Jeff Mei, chief operating officer of exchange BTSE, told CoinDesk that traders were watching for signals of a December increase.

See also: Bitcoin’s weekend fall to $79,146.