Investing.com– Bitcoin fell on Tuesday, extending recent losses and falling below a recent trading range after top corporate holder Strategy paused its purchases of the crypto.
Caution before a Federal Reserve meeting this week also kept investors largely cautious towards speculative assets like cryptocurrencies. Broader prices in the sector also largely fell on Tuesday.
Bitcoin fell 0.5% to $79,830.3 by 01:43 ET (05:43 GMT).
Crypto markets took little relief from a drop in oil prices, while an overnight, tech-fueled rally in stock markets offered little support to crypto.
Bitcoin’s declines on Tuesday saw the crypto fall below a $80,000 to $87,000 trading range established over the past month.
Strategy pauses weekly Bitcoin purchases
Strategy Inc (NASDAQ:MSTR) made no bitcoin purchases or sales and sold no shares under its at-the-market program during the week of October 19 to 25, 2026.
As of October 25, it holds about 848,517 bitcoin, bought for a total of $64.02 billion at an average of roughly $75,446 per coin, including fees and expenses.
During the week, the company repurchased 2,068,459 shares of its STRC preferred stock (Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred) for $204.9 million, paid from USD cash reserves. It bought back no other security class.
Strategy did not disclose why it had purchased no new Bitcoin. But a pause in its buying offered some negative cues to markets, especially after the company sold some of its Bitcoin holdings earlier this year.
Crypto price today: altcoins drift lower with Fed in focus
Broader crypto prices fell on Tuesday, pressured by caution towards the sector before a Fed interest rate decision on Wednesday.
The central bank is widely expected to leave rates unchanged at 4.0%. But recent stickiness in U.S. inflation is expected to elicit a hawkish outlook from the central bank– a scenario that bodes poorly for crypto.
Beyond the Fed, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan are also expected to offer up more cues on monetary policy, although both central banks are expected to strike a hawkish chord.
World no.2 crypto Ether fell 0.6% to $2,307.01, while BNB fell 0.3%.
XRP was an outlier, adding 0.7% after its parent company, Ripple, received final U.S. approval to establish a national trust bank.