Solana Tests $100 as Bitcoin Breaks Below $80K 3 Times in 3 Days Amid Middle East Tensions

Bitcoin fell nearly 2% to approximately $79,300 on Monday morning, slipping below $80,000 for the third time since Saturday, 24 October. At press time, $BTC is currently trading around $80,300.

The sell-off extended across major cryptocurrencies. $ETH fell to just above $2,300, while $XRP declined to approximately $1.28. Solana dropped more than 2% to around $100, struggling to maintain that level after briefly falling below $99 on Saturday.

Traders seemingly reduced risk ahead of this week's Federal Reserve meeting. Geopolitical uncertainty added another source of pressure. The United States was reportedly rapidly evacuating personnel from embassies and military bases across the Middle East on Saturday.

Another source of sell pressure is Anthropic’s long-awaited IPO, which was finally filed early Monday morning, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley leading the offering. The AI giant plans to list on Nasdaq under the ticker ANT and could raise up to $100 billion at a $2 trillion valuation. Meta also announced a $95 billion share sale, bringing potential capital demands from both companies to nearly $200 billion. These massive offerings could prompt investors to free up liquidity by selling other assets, which was the case ahead of SpaceX’s IPO back in June.

Strive Buys $511M in Bitcoin as Strategy Holds Off

Bitcoin corporate treasury activity offered a contrasting picture of market sentiment. Strive added 6,182 $BTC for $511.4 million last week, according to Chairman and CEO Matt Cole.

Following its preferred stock IPO, which raised more than $600 million, the company increased its total Bitcoin holdings to 43,000 $BTC, currently worth approximately $3.44 billion. Strive also increased its cash holdings to $504.4 million as it built a reserve to fund dividend payments on its preferred shares.

Strategy, meanwhile, paused its Bitcoin purchases for the week ending October 25. Instead, Michael Saylor's company repurchased 2,068,459 shares of its variable-rate Stretch preferred stock, STRC, for approximately $204.9 million between October 19 and October 25. The repurchases brought cumulative STRC buybacks above $1.8 billion.

According to its SEC filing, Strategy neither bought nor sold Bitcoin nor issued shares through its at-the-market offering program during the period. Its holdings remained at 848,517 $BTC, acquired for approximately $64.02 billion at an average price of $75,446 per coin.

Defi Dev Corp Continues Buying $SOL

Despite $SOL's price weakness, institutional and infrastructure developments continued. Solana treasury company DeFi Development Corp. purchased approximately 5,346 $SOL last week, bringing its holdings to 2.59 million $SOL.

The Solana treasury company has purchased 31,399 $SOL worth approximately $3.2 million so far in October.

Galaxy Research Says “Now Is The Time To Buy $BTC”

Galaxy Research offered a more optimistic assessment of Bitcoin's outlook. In a Monday report, Alex Thorn, the firm's head of firmwide research, argued that Bitcoin's bear market ended in June and that the asset has entered an accumulation phase.

Thorn cited Bitcoin's recovery above its 50-week moving average for 5 consecutive weeks, support from its 200-week moving average, declining selling pressure, and a stronger case for Bitcoin as a hedge against currency debasement. In his words, “we believe now is an attractive time to buy and hold bitcoin.”

However, Bitcoin's current weakness and October's performance challenge the historical 'Uptober' narrative. Bitcoin is down approximately 4% month to date, despite average October gains of 26.1% since 2010, according to CoinGlass data. October 2025 also bucked the trend, falling 3.9% before Bitcoin lost another 17.5% in November, even though November historically averages gains of 35%.

All Eyes on Wednesday's Fed Decision

The Federal Reserve's interest rate decision on Wednesday, followed by Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's press conference, will provide the week's main macroeconomic catalyst. Meanwhile, Anthropic's potential $100 billion IPO could prompt investors to free up liquidity, adding pressure to Bitcoin, Solana, and other risk assets.

Traders will watch the Fed's policy guidance for clues about future borrowing costs and liquidity conditions. A more hawkish outlook could extend pressure on Bitcoin and other risk assets, while a more accommodative stance could support a recovery.

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