Bitcoin Falls to Three-Week Low as Oil Prices Rise

Bitcoin fell to $81,000 on Thursday after Wall Street opened, extending losses during a session marked by concern over possible military action involving the United States and Iran. The decline put the cryptocurrency’s $82,500 support level at risk.

BTC/USD reached $81,000 on Bitstamp, its lowest price since Sept. 21. West Texas Intermediate crude rose to $93.20 a barrel, its highest level since Oct. 2, while Brent crude reached $105.88.

The oil gains followed reports that the United States could be preparing additional strikes against Iran. At a rally in San Antonio, Texas, President Donald Trump described progress in talks between Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran. Trump indicated that an agreement could come “very soon,” while expressing limited personal interest in a diplomatic outcome.

Higher oil prices raised concerns about renewed inflationary pressure and pushed U.S. government bond yields higher. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond reached 5.73%, its highest level in 24 years, before easing to 5.65%.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller added to expectations that interest rates could remain higher for longer. In a speech at a central banking forum in Istanbul, Waller stated that further rate increases could be needed if economic data continued to match forecasts.

“If the economic data continue to come in as expected, I anticipate additional hikes to support a timelier return of inflation to our 2 percent goal,” Waller said. He added that the increases did not need to occur at consecutive meetings but should be made within an acceptable period.

Data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool showed that traders increased their expectations for a 0.25 percentage-point rate increase at the Federal Reserve’s December meeting. The probability of a December hike exceeded 70% on Thursday. Traders continued to favor no change at the October meeting, which would leave the target range at 3.75% to 4%.

Bitcoin traders focused on whether the cryptocurrency could hold above $82,500. Analyst Rekt Capital described the level as a marker for Bitcoin’s next market structure during its recovery from lows near $57,000.

“Bitcoin is still in a transitional phase and at critical technical juncture. ~$82500 is the deciding price point when it comes to where Bitcoin builds out its next market structure,” Rekt Capital wrote on X.

Bitcoin’s decline below $82,000 contributed to liquidations of leveraged long positions across the cryptocurrency market. The value of those liquidations was about $430 million at the time of reporting, according to CoinGlass data.