Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC) and other cryptocurrencies remain under pressure as market volatility worsens and technology stocks selloff. Growing concerns about the artificial intelligence (A.I.) trade sent the technology-heavy Nasdaq index down nearly 700 points or 2.60% on Oct. 22. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 500 points on Oct. 23 to end the week.
The situation is pressuring risk assets such as crypto, with Bitcoin's price at $81,500 U.S. on the afternoon of Oct. 23. Bitcoin is now down 5% for the month of October after rallying more than 40% in the third quarter of the year and rising as high as $86,000 U.S. Other digital assets such as Ethereum (CRYPTO: $ETH) are also sliding as the market grinds lower.
The current slump continues to run counter to the typical upsurge for Bitcoin in October. Typically, October is the best month of the year for crypto. Bitcoin hit a record high of $126,000 U.S. in October 2025. Many analysts expect digital assets to remain under pressure as the market continues to assess the risks of an A.I. bubble, as well as government bond yields and crude oil prices that are now trading above $115 U.S. per barrel.
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Here's what else happened with cryptocurrencies over the past week…
Strategy Buys More Bitcoin:Strategy (NASDAQ: $MSTR) bought another $22 million U.S. worth of Bitcoin over the past week as the price came under pressure during a downturn in technology stocks. Strategy said that it purchased 267 BTC at a cost of $22.1 million U.S. The average price of the latest purchase was $82,900 U.S. per Bitcoin, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Strategy's Bitcoin holdings now stand at 848,517 BTC following the latest acquisitions.
Deposits In 'Crypto Vaults' Double To $10 Billion:Deposits to crypto lending vaults have surpassed $10 billion U.S. as a growing number of investors seek returns on their holdings of digital assets. Crypto vaults operate through smart contracts on decentralized platforms. The vaults tend to offer returns, similar to interest paid on bank deposits, of 3% to 10%. Deposits into crypto lending vaults have more than doubled from $4 billion U.S. at the start of 2025. The rise in the popularity of vaults comes as investors increasingly seek out strategies to put their holdings of stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies to work generating yield.
Zcash Upgrade To Triple Payment Speeds:Zcash (CRYPTO: $ZEC) is set to undergo an update in November that promises to triple payment speeds on its blockchain network. Developers say that the upgrade, known as "NU7," will increase payment speeds on the privacy-focused blockchain by a factor of three. The upgrade is scheduled to take place around Nov. 5 of this year. Once completed, the NU7 upgrade will cut the time between blocks, the batches of transactions added to the chain, from 75 seconds to 25 seconds.
Kalshi Allows Betting With Bitcoin-Backed Loans:Prediction market Kalshi said that it will allow some clients to post collateral for leveraged perpetual-futures trades using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Placing bets using Bitcoin-backed loans is made possible through a new arrangement with digital-asset custodian BitGo Holdings (NYSE: $BTGO). Customers of Kalshi Prime will be able to borrow against crypto held at BitGo and use the proceeds to fund margin positions on futures traded on Kalshi's main prediction market.
JPMorgan Expands Access To JPM Coin:JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: $JPM), the largest U.S. bank, is expanding access to its JPM Coin among institutional investors. The New York-based lender says that it is bringing its year-old crypto token, JPM Coin, to the Ethereum network as it looks to offer more digital assets to institutions. Broadening access to JPM Coin will help institutional clients that want to make blockchain payments and need a digital token to settle trades or back tokenized assets. JPM Coin represents dollar deposits at the bank.
Visa To Acquire Fireblocks For $2.5 Billion:Credit card giant Visa (NYSE: $V) is in talks to acquire crypto custody and stablecoin infrastructure provider Fireblocks for $2.5 billion U.S. The purchase of privately held Fireblocks would give Visa institutional digital asset technology and bolster the global payments company's crypto operations. Fireblocks provides institutional custody, stablecoin settlement, and tokenization infrastructure to banks and payment firms such as Visa. The purchase price of $2.5 billion U.S. is 69% below the valuation of $8 billion U.S. that was last applied to Fireblocks in a January 2022 fundraise.
Ethereum Staking Hits Record High:Ethereum staking hit a record high in this year's third quarter. Crypto staking is the process of locking up digital assets on a blockchain network to help verify transactions and secure the network. In return for pledging crypto such as Ethereum, investors earn rewards such as cash payments or more cryptocurrency. According to Bitwise's quarterly staking report, a record 43.8 million Ethereum, which is nearly 36% of the circulating supply, was locked into staking at the end of September this year. Annualized staking yields averaged 2.63%, down from 2.81% in the year's second quarter.
Cardano Founder Builds Programming Language:Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano (CRYPTO: $ADA), says he is writing a new programming language for his blockchain. Hoskinson wrote on social media that the new language will be the first to combine what a user wants a transaction to do with cryptographic proof that the rules have been followed. The Cardano founder and crypto advocate adds that his programming language will support three tools: transaction intents, proof-carrying data, and Groth16 proofs. The new language could let developers build apps that coordinate trades, check conditions, and pass verified information between services.
Bitcoin ETFs See Outflows Return:Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the spot price of Bitcoin are again experiencing net outflows as market volatility worsens. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw combined net outflows of $635.6 million U.S. on Oct. 22, the largest daily outflows since June of this year. Leading the outflows was BlackRock's (NYSE: $BLK) popular iShares Bitcoin Trust (NASDAQ: $IBIT), which saw net outflows of $254.1 million U.S. on the day. Other Bitcoin ETFs also saw heavy selling with crypto prices falling between 3% and 5% as investors moved capital out of risk assets and into defensive areas of the market. Despite the outflows on Oct. 22, Bitcoin ETF flows remain positive for the past week at $442.7 million U.S. following a surge of inflows several days ago.
Ethereum Delays Test Of Glamsterdam Upgrade:Ethereum developers have reportedly delayed a planned test of the Glamsterdam upgrade on the Hoodi network. The delay comes after security researchers identified a problem that could change how existing smart contracts handle failed transactions. The situation could result in errors becoming permanent on the Ethereum network. The Glamsterdam upgrade, the biggest change to Ethereum's blockchain in years, was due to activate on Oct. 26. A new date for the Glamsterdam upgrade to be finalized and go live has not been announced.
