Bitcoin up as risk sentiment, oil slip offset Strategy buying pause, Fed caution

 Bitcoin was slightly higher on Tuesday, helped by a surge in risk sentiment and a fall in oil prices. The two factors slightly outweighed caution a day ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision and a pause in purchases of the world’s largest cryptocurrency by top corporate holder Strategy.

Bitcoin was last up 1.3% to $81,119.3 by 17:42 ET (21:42 GMT), recovering after briefly dropping to $79,496.8 earlier. The crypto thus fell below an $80,000 to $87,000 trading range established over the past month.

Risk mood prevails, oil dips, Fed takes the spotlight

A risk-on mood dominated proceedings on Tuesday, with equities rising as the artificial intelligence trade surged for a second straight session on enthusiasm around Anthropic’s long-awaited initial public offering filing.

A decline in oil prices also helped sentiment. Brent crude futures settled 1.5% lower at $114.07 a barrel, after ongoing diplomatic efforts between regional Middle Eastern powers offset supply disruption fears. Iran on Monday held a quadrilateral meeting of itself, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye.

Crypto market participants were also gearing up for the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) policy decision on Wednesday. The FOMC is broadly expected to leave rates unchanged, after having hiked rates in September for the first time since 2023.

The odds of no action from the FOMC have been reinforced despite hotter-than-expected U.S. consumer and producer inflation reports earlier this month, following Fed Chair Kevin Warsh recently declining to provide any guidance on the decision.

Elsewhere, Strategy made no bitcoin purchases or sales and sold no shares under its at-the-market program during the week of October 19 to 25, 2026.

As of October 25, it holds about 848,517 bitcoin, bought for a total of $64.02 billion at an average of roughly $75,446 per coin, including fees and expenses.

During the week, the company repurchased 2,068,459 shares of its STRC preferred stock (Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred) for $204.9 million, paid from USD cash reserves. It bought back no other security class.

Strategy did not disclose why it had purchased no new Bitcoin. But a pause in its buying offered some negative cues to markets, especially after the company sold some of its Bitcoin holdings earlier this year.

This is the time to accumulate Bitcoin, Galaxy’s Thorn says

Despite recent underwhelming price performance, Galaxy said it remains confident in Bitcoin’s long-term prospects and that now is the time to accumulate.

“We think the bear market ended in June and that bitcoin is in the accumulation phase that has preceded every prior advance,” Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy, said in a note titled “Why now is the time to add and hold BTC.”

Thorn said the bear market likely ended in June with prices under $58,000, and that improving chart signals, reduced selling pressure and mounting fiscal risks make the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization attractive to accumulate.

He pointed to bitcoin’s recovery above its 50-week moving average after 44 weeks below it. Five consecutive weekly closes above that level have strengthened his conviction that a bottom is in.

Thorn also highlighted that asset managers’ net long exposure through CME bitcoin futures has dropped 57% since the week of the record high, while several major trading firms substantially cut ETF holdings.

“The fast money has left, the base stayed, and everything else is priced for perfection,” Thorn said.

Rising U.S. debt, persistent deficits and growing interest costs strengthen Bitcoin’s appeal as a fixed-supply asset, he said.

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest buys Circle shares, trims Bitcoin ETF

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest bought 65,615 shares of Circle Internet Group, worth $5.2 million, for its Next Generation Internet ETF on Monday. It also sold $15.9 million of its own spot ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF from two of its funds, as Bitcoin extended its slide.

As of Oct. 27, Circle is the fifth-largest holding in ARKW, at a 4.3% weighting worth about $67.8 million, according to Ark’s latest disclosures. Tesla, Meta, Shopify and Amazon round out the fund’s other top holdings.

Crypto price today: altcoins tick up 

Turning to broader crypto prices, the board was mostly green.

World no.2 crypto Ether added 1.8% to $2,353.93, while BNB climbed 0.7%.

XRP advanced 2.4%, in part due to its parent company, Ripple, receiving final U.S. approval to establish a national trust bank.