Oil, Yields and the Dollar Squeeze Risk Assets
The first push came from energy markets. Brent crude moved back above $101 per barrel as tanker attacks and tension around the Strait of Hormuz revived supply fears. That lifted the U.S. dollar index to roughly 102 and pushed the 10-year Treasury yield to about 5.3%, a level close to multi-decade highs.
Higher yields and a firmer dollar tend to weigh on speculative assets, and Bitcoin followed. The price slipped to a session low near $83,650 and then hovered around $84,000, down about 1.5% over 24 hours. Total crypto market capitalization declined to roughly $2.95 trillion, with Ether near $2,600 and XRP close to $1.47.
Leveraged Longs Take the Brunt of the Selloff
Derivatives amplified the move. CoinGlass data showed more than $403 million in long positions wiped out within a single hour, which made up about 97% of all liquidations in that window. Across 24 hours, roughly $555 million in positions were closed by exchanges, including about $487 million in longs.
Forced liquidations create more selling, which explains why the drop accelerated so quickly. Analysts also note that the one-hour wipeout represented only a small slice of open interest, so a meaningful amount of leverage remains in the market.
Robinhood Backs Bitcoin With Its Own Capital
Against this backdrop, Robinhood disclosed a $25 million Bitcoin purchase for its balance sheet. Johann Kerbrat, the company's head of crypto and international, described the move as a way to align the business more closely with the crypto community, and acknowledged that the amount is modest for a company valued at around $100 billion.
The timing fits Robinhood's broader strategy. The company is preparing perpetual futures for eligible U.S. customers, with Bitcoin and Ether contracts offering leverage of up to 10x and six other assets up to 3x. It also runs Bitstamp, tokenized stock trading and its own Ethereum Layer 2 network, Robinhood Chain.
Corporate Buyers Stay Active, ETF Flows Stay Mixed
Robinhood's position is small next to Strategy, which added 334 BTC for about $28.7 million between September 28 and October 4 and now holds around 848,000 BTC. On the fund side, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $118.8 million on October 6, while Ether ETFs lost $201.9 million.
On-chain data points the other way from price action. Santiment reported that 24,073 BTC left exchanges on net on Monday, the largest daily outflow since March, bringing exchange-held supply to about 6.5%.
What Traders Are Watching Next
All eyes are now on the minutes of the Federal Reserve's September meeting, which are due later on Wednesday. The Fed raised rates by 25 basis points at that meeting, and futures price only about a 20% chance of another hike in October, with a December move seen as far more likely.
Technically, analysts see support between $83,300 and $84,600, while resistance sits near $87,000. A decisive break in either direction will likely depend on the Fed's tone, oil prices and whether ETF demand returns.
