Bitcoin Holds Near $82K as Wall Street Slips After Tesla and Meta Earnings
Crypto and stocks started Thursday, October 22, 2026, on a cautious note. Bitcoin is hovering around $82,000, while US stock futures are pointing lower after a big round of tech earnings.
Bitcoin: a spike that faded
Over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin ran up to about $84,800 before slipping back toward $82,000. That puts it down roughly 1.5% to 2% on the day and about $25,000 below where it traded a year ago. Its market cap is around $1.64 trillion, still the largest in crypto by a wide margin. Traders are watching $82,500 as a key support level.
Other coins
Ethereum is near $2,442, XRP is around $1.34, and Solana is close to $105, all in fairly narrow ranges. Zcash led the top coins with a gain of about 2.4%, while Hyperliquid lagged with a drop of nearly 3%.
ETFs and regulation
US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw inflows of roughly $527 million on October 19, a sign that institutional demand has not gone away. Citigroup has also set a 12-month Bitcoin price target of $113,000, though analysts disagree widely and forecasts like this are often wrong. On the policy side, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency finalized rules for stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act on October 21.
Stocks: AI trade under pressure
Wall Street closed higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 up 0.6% to about 7,758 and the Nasdaq up 1.1%. But futures turned lower on Thursday, with S&P 500 contracts down about 1% and Nasdaq-100 contracts down roughly 1.7%.
Tesla beat Q3 expectations, with earnings of $0.48 per share on revenue of about $28 billion, and it delivered 486,532 vehicles. Even so, the stock fell early on as investors reacted to its spending plans.
Meta reported revenue up 26% to $64.6 billion and earnings of $3.83 per share, above forecasts. It also announced a stock split.
Chip stocks fell, with Lam Research dropping more than 7% in early trading after a weak outlook.
Oil climbed to a five-month high as tensions in the Middle East escalated.
What to watch next
The Federal Reserve meets on October 27 and 28, and interest rates remain a major driver for both stocks and crypto. Bitcoin's ability to hold above the low $82,000s will be the level many traders watch in the meantime.
Prices are approximate and were taken from the morning of October 22, 2026. They change quickly. This article is for information only and is not financial advice.
Sources: CoinDesk, Coinbase, CoinGecko, Analytics Insight, Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg, Benzinga, ABC
