Bitcoin Falls on Higher Oil Prices — Update

By Joseph Wilkins

Bitcoin fell on Tuesday as wavering risk appetite linked to higher oil prices capped its recovery from last week's losses.

The flagship cryptocurrency dropped 0.7% to $81,397, giving back gains made early Monday when it briefly crossed the $83,000 mark.

December Brent crude futures rose 1.5% to $111.10 a barrel on Tuesday, while December WTI futures gained 2% to $100.59 a barrel.

Last week saw fears of interest rate hikes and concerns around artificial-intelligence spending ripple through equity markets, with bitcoin caught up in the broader selloff. A modest recovery in equity markets in turn gave cryptocurrencies some support to bounce back from their recent weakness, which has since faded as oil prices once again drift above $100 and reignite inflationary fears.

"The rebound is mostly an interest rate story," said Sam Roberts, head of investment consulting at U.K. pension solutions provider Cartwright. "Treasury yields have come back from their October peak and bitcoin's price has steadied with them. Last week's low forced out a large volume of leveraged long positions."

But cryptocurrency investors remain on edge, as metrics show that new buyers of bitcoin remain in short supply. Last week saw bitcoin ETFs track net outflows of $228.4 million, according to data from CoinGlass.

"Renewed buying has helped stabilize market sentiment, but the foundations of the recovery remain fragile as interest rate pressures persist and investment flows have yet to improve meaningfully," wrote Linh Tran, market analyst at multi-asset broker XS.com, in a note.

Write to Joseph Wilkins at joseph.wilkins@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 20, 2026 07:53 ET (11:53 GMT)