Key takeaways
- Bitcoin fell to about $79,700 on Saturday, October 24, its weakest level in more than a month, after reports the US was evacuating staff from Middle East embassies and bases.
- About $670 million in crypto positions were liquidated in 24 hours, with more than 213,000 traders forced out, according to Coinglass data cited by Cointribune.
- Ether, XRP and Solana fell 3% to 4%, while high oil prices, rising bond yields and ETF outflows had already weakened the market before the weekend.
In this story 4 sections
Saturday morning is usually the quietest stretch of the crypto week. This one was not. Bitcoin below $80,000 became the story by late morning on October 24, as reports that the US was rapidly pulling personnel out of the Middle East hit a thin weekend market.
CoinDesk put bitcoin at $79,700 shortly after 11 a.m. Eastern, down 2.2% over 24 hours and at its weakest level in more than a month. Cointribune, citing intraday data, reported a low near $79,750, which it described as a nine day low. The price had been close to $85,000 on Wednesday, so the slide erased more than $5,000 in a few sessions. Cointribune said it was the second dip under $80,000 in roughly ten days, after bitcoin tested the same level earlier in October.
US embassy and base evacuations set off the selling
The trigger was geopolitical. The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that the US was quickly evacuating staff from embassies and military bases across the region, according to CoinDesk, amid intelligence that Iran is preparing attacks on Americans.
CoinDesk noted that the evacuations go well beyond earlier reports that the US had told some diplomatic staff in Saudi Arabia to leave. For traders, that difference mattered. A limited drawdown at one embassy reads as caution, while a pullout of embassy and military staff across the region suggests officials expect something more serious.
CoinDesk quoted a Friday memo from Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which said "Iran has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel" and that plotting against US citizens had "reached advanced stages." Cointribune added that the State Department had ordered nonessential government staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia after Houthi forces, backed by Iran, attacked Saudi civilian and energy sites.
President Trump has also hinted at further escalation. At a Florida rally on Friday, he said "We may do another little 'Epic Fury,'" CoinDesk reported, a remark it tied to the period after the early November midterms.
Liquidations topped $670 million in a day
Leverage made the drop sharper. Citing Coinglass data, Cointribune reported:
- About $670 million in crypto positions liquidated over 24 hours.
- More than 213,000 traders forced out of their positions.
- Roughly $220 million in long bets wiped out within a few hours as the price fell.
- A single liquidation of nearly $12 million on Binance, the largest of the day.
That is smaller than the near $1 billion flush that followed hot inflation data earlier this month, but the mechanics are the same. Traders betting on higher prices get closed out automatically, and those forced sales push the price lower still.
Ether, XRP and Solana fell harder than bitcoin
Other large tokens lost more ground. CoinDesk said ether, XRP and Solana were each down roughly 3% to 4%. Cointribune reported ether below $2,350, XRP under $1.30 and Solana below $100 for the first time since early September. Smaller coins took bigger hits, with NEAR down more than 10% and Zcash about 7.5% lower.
Oil, bond yields and ETF outflows had already weakened the market
Saturday's news landed on a market that was already shaky. Brent crude reached about $117 a barrel on Friday, according to Cointribune, and higher oil can feed inflation and limit how far the Federal Reserve can cut rates. The same report pointed to rising bond yields, a strong dollar and continued outflows from US spot bitcoin funds, including the $635 million exit on October 22, the largest since June.
Weekend trading made all of this worse. With traditional markets closed and fewer large buyers active, a single headline can move the price more than it would on a Tuesday.
Cointribune flagged $80,000 as the first level bitcoin needs to reclaim, with heavier resistance between $84,000 and $85,000. On the downside, it pointed to a cluster of leveraged long positions around $78,500 that could be exposed if the price breaks below $79,000.
Bitcoin ETFs do not trade on weekends, so anyone holding bitcoin through a fund will see Saturday's move show up when US markets open Monday. Our guide to how bitcoin ETFs work covers the difference between owning a fund and owning the coin, and more market coverage is on our crypto page.
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