Bitcoin slips to $81,656 and Avalanche falls 8% on the week: crypto prices today, October 22, 2026

Bitcoin traded at about $81,656 on Coinbase early Thursday, down 2.1% over 24 hours and 0.6% over seven days. Ether was at $2,399, down 2.7% on the day and 1.7% on the week. All eight coins we track fell over the past 24 hours, and Avalanche (-4.8%) and Cardano (-4.2%) fell the most. Over a week the gap is wider: Avalanche is down 8.0% and Cardano 5.9%, while bitcoin is nearly flat.

Prices at a glance

Coin	Price	24 hours	7 days
Bitcoin (BTC)	$81,656	-2.1%	-0.6%
Ether (ETH)	$2,399	-2.7%	-1.7%
Solana (SOL)	$104.20	-2.5%	-1.1%
XRP	$1.3245	-2.3%	-0.7%
Dogecoin (DOGE)	$0.07918	-3.6%	-2.3%
Cardano (ADA)	$0.2162	-4.2%	-5.9%
Chainlink (LINK)	$12.04	-2.9%	-3.2%
Avalanche (AVAX)	$9.222	-4.8%	-8.0%

Coinbase Exchange prices at about 8:10 AM ET on October 22. The 24-hour change compares the latest trade with the price 24 hours earlier. The 7-day change compares it with the October 15 daily close (UTC).

Bitcoin holds up better than the rest

CoinDesk\'s Daybook newsletter reported that bitcoin\'s share of the total crypto market reached 60% on Wednesday, the highest since May, even as prices across the wider market weakened. It said bitcoin briefly pushed above $84,000 on Wednesday before slipping below $82,000 on Thursday. Smaller tokens took bigger losses: according to CoinDesk, its Memecoin Index fell more than 5%, its Computing Select Index dropped 3.5% and its DeFi Select Index lost 2.5%.

Our own table shows the same pattern. Over seven days bitcoin is down 0.6%, while Chainlink (-3.2%), Cardano (-5.9%) and Avalanche (-8.0%) have lagged. A rising bitcoin share means holders are favoring the largest coin over smaller ones. It is a description of where money has moved, not a signal about what comes next.

Waiting on a catalyst

CoinDesk quoted Joel Kruger, a market strategist at LMAX Group, saying crypto\'s earlier outperformance has given way to closer alignment with equities while investors wait for a fresh catalyst, and that the global macro backdrop remains the dominant influence. Vikram Subburaj, chief executive of the Giottus exchange, pointed to volatile exchange-traded fund flows and said sustained inflows are needed to confirm a stronger recovery. CoinDesk also noted that the Federal Reserve meets on interest-rate policy next week.

On the bond side, the 10-year Treasury yield closed Wednesday at 5.13%, up from 5.12% on Tuesday, and the 30-year was unchanged at 5.42%, according to the Treasury\'s daily yield curve. CoinDesk\'s trending list also carried reports of falling Asian stocks and rising oil prices. We did not find a source tying today\'s crypto decline to any one of these, so we are listing the facts side by side rather than linking them. See the 10-year chart.

What moved the smaller coins

We looked for a coin-specific cause behind the drops in Avalanche, Cardano and Chainlink and did not find one in the CoinDesk coverage we read this morning. A decline across every major coin at once usually reflects the market as a whole, but that is an observation about the pattern, not a confirmed reason.

What traders are watching

• Bitcoin around $82,000, the level it slipped under on Thursday after Wednesday\'s brief move above $84,000.
• Spot bitcoin ETF flows, which CoinDesk describes as still lacking a consistent bid.
• Next week\'s Fed meeting and the 10-year yield, at 5.13% after Wednesday\'s close.

For yesterday\'s prices, see the October 21 report. For the week\'s biggest gainers, see crypto movers, live crypto prices and meme coins.

Sources: Coinbase Exchange price data; U.S. Treasury; CoinDesk. Crypto assets are volatile. This is market information, not investment advice.