As reported by Fixygen, the cryptocurrency market ends the week of October 12-16, 2026 in conditions of increased volatility and reduced investor interest in risky assets. Bitcoin (BTC) is trading near $82 thousand, Ethereum (ETH) — about $2.45 thousand. The main factors of pressure were the acceleration of inflation in the United States, the outflow of funds from cryptocurrency ETFs and the decision by MSCI to review the conditions for the inclusion of companies that accumulate digital assets in international stock indices.
According to market quotations on October 16, Bitcoin partially recovered after falling to a four-week low of about $79.8 thousand a day earlier. At the beginning of the week, the largest cryptocurrency traded mostly above $82 thousand, but the publication of US macroeconomic statistics strengthened the selling.
Ethereum showed weaker dynamics, falling to around $2.44-2.45 thousand against $2.5 thousand at the end of the previous week. Other top digital assets were also under pressure, including Solana, which traded around $105.
The most important event for financial markets was the October 14 release of the US Department of Labor's inflation data for September. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.6% for the month and by 3.7% year-on-year. Additional pressure came from producer price data released on October 15, with the PPI index rising 1.3% over the month, the largest monthly gain since March 2022. Annual manufacturing inflation reached 6.3%.
Acceleration of inflation increased the fears of market participants regarding the further policy of the US Federal Reserve System. For cryptocurrencies, this means the risk of maintaining high interest rates, which limit the availability of liquidity and investment demand for assets with high volatility.
Negative dynamics affected American exchange-traded investment funds focused on digital assets.
According to statistics from Farside Investors, in the four trading sessions from October 12 to 15, the net outflow of funds from American spot bitcoin ETFs amounted to about $146 million. The largest reduction was recorded on October 14, when investors withdrew $261.4 million. At the same time, on October 13, the funds attracted $175.7 million, and on October 15 - another $5.1 million.
In the same period, investors withdrew about $250.4 million from spot ETFs on Ethereum. The maximum daily outflow occurred on October 14 at $129.5 million, while funds lost another $60.3 million on October 15.
Thus, the combined net outflow from US spot funds for Bitcoin and Ethereum over the four trading days reached approximately $396.4 million. Friday Resultsthe trading session has not yet been included in these calculations.
A separate event of the week was the decision of the international index provider MSCI, announced on October 15, to change the methodology for including non-operating companies in global stock indexes.
The new rules provide for the exclusion of companies whose financial characteristics make them comparable to investment funds and other passive investment structures. The changes will take effect following the November review of the indices, which is scheduled to end on November 30.
Public companies whose activities are largely related to the accumulation of bitcoins and other digital assets fall under the potential restrictions. Among them are Michael Saylor's American Strategy and Japan's Metaplanet.
MSCI intends to publish the final list of affected companies on November 11. The decision itself does not mean the automatic exclusion of all companies with cryptocurrency reserves: the classification will depend on the established financial criteria.
According to Reuters, Strategy previously estimated the potential sale of its shares by index funds in the event of exclusion from the indexes at about $2.8 billion. Against the background of this news, the company's shares fell more than 4% on October 16.
At the same time, corporate purchases of bitcoin continue.
American Strive Inc., whose shares are traded on Nasdaq, on October 13 reported the purchase of 3,311 BTC for the period from October 5 to 9 at an average price of about $84.5 thousand. The total cost of the purchase was approximately $279.8 million, and the company's total cryptocurrency reserve increased to 32,773 BTC.
Already on October 14, Strive disclosed information about an additional purchase of 2,822 BTC in the period from October 12 to 13 at an average price $83.27 thousand. The total value of this batch is estimated at approximately $235 million.
Thus, taking into account the two announced bitcoin purchases, the company's bitcoin reserves are estimated to have reached 35,595 BTC.
At the same time, Strive announced the execution of warrants for the purchase of shares, which should ensure the attraction of about $369.2 million before deducting the relevant costs.
These transactions indicate the maintenance of demand for bitcoin from of individual public companies even in the face of pressure on quotations and reduced investments in exchange-traded cryptocurrency funds.
In parallel, the infrastructure for servicing digital assets by traditional financial institutions is developing.
On October 16, Deutsche Bank confirmed plans to launch its first cryptocurrency storage service for institutional and corporate clients in the coming weeks. Initially, the platform will work in Germany, after which the bank expects to expand its presence to the largest financial centers of Asia in 2027.
At the first stage, the service will be focused on storing Bitcoin and Ethereum. In the future, Deutsche Bank plans to add transactions with stablecoins, tokenizedtheir deposits and digital securities.
The German bank views the blockchain infrastructure as a supplement to traditional financial services, not as their replacement.
In the field of regulation, additional attention was drawn by the publication on October 13 in the US Federal Register of a document by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which provides for the development of comprehensive rules for certain retail transactions with cryptoassets.
The initiative was originally announced by the regulator on October 5. It is aimed at forming a legal framework for cryptocurrency markets, increasing the transparency of operations and protecting retail investors. Public discussion of the document will continue until December 14, 2026.
For now, it is about the preparation of regulation, and not about the entry into force of new requirements.
Thus, the main feature of the week was the divergence between the short-term dynamics of cryptocurrencies and the development of industry infrastructure. Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital assets were under pressure from macroeconomic factors, but traditional banks continued to prepare new products, and some public companies - the expansion of cryptocurrency reserves.
In the coming week, investors will monitor the dynamics of US government bonds, changes in expectations regarding the Fed's interest rates, capital flows into cryptocurrency ETFs and the consequences of the MSCI decision.
For the corporate segment, it will be especially important to prepare for publication on November 11 of the final list of companies that may lose their presence in international stock indices.
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Economy
Crypto Markets Under Attack - End Week Marked by Inflation and Fund Drains - Fixygen Review
Editorial team•
