Bitcoin climbs near $65,000 despite equity weakness: What’s driving the rally?

On 2026-08-19, bitcoin rose 0.5% to around $81,700 since midnight UTC, recovering from a low of around $81,000, according to CoinDesk. The move came as Asian stocks steadied after Thursday's tech-led selloff, during which the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.6% in its steepest decline since June. Altcoins outpaced the largest cryptocurrency: ether rose 0.9%, the CoinDesk 80 altcoin index gained 1.4%, memecoins climbed 2.9%, and frog-themed memecoin pepe jumped 13%. The headline's reference to bitcoin climbing near $65,000 is not supported by the source text, which reports a price around $81,700. Traders are now looking to the Fed's Oct. 27-28 meeting, with Brent crude near $113 keeping inflation worries alive.

Background

The source describes a market rebound following a sharp tech-led selloff on Thursday, when the Nasdaq Composite index fell 2.6% in its steepest decline since June. Asian markets steadied on the day covered: South Korea's Kospi added 0.3%, China's CSI 300 rose 1.7%, and Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.25%. In crypto, the recovery was led by altcoins rather than bitcoin, with the CoinDesk 80 gaining 1.4%, memecoins climbing 2.9%, and pepe jumping 13%. Ether rose 0.9%. Traders are focused on two upcoming catalysts: the Fed's Oct. 27-28 meeting and exchange-traded fund flows. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs lost $635 million on Thursday, according to SoSoValue data, following more than $1 billion of inflows over the first three days of the week. Brent crude near $113 is keeping inflation worries alive. In derivatives, crypto futures trading cooled, with volume falling 19% over 24 hours and liquidations dropping 23%, a day after both jumped. Open interest rose 1% after declining the previous day, with bitcoin's price little changed, which the source describes as traders adding positions again rather than just closing them.

What happened

According to CoinDesk, bitcoin rose 0.5% to around $81,700 since midnight UTC, recovering from a low of around $81,000, while Asian stocks steadied after Thursday's tech sell-off. Altcoins moved faster: ether rose 0.9%, the CoinDesk 80 altcoin index added 1.4%, the memecoin gauge climbed 2.9%, and pepe jumped 13%. The source notes the rebound follows Thursday's tech-led selloff, during which the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.6% in its steepest decline since June. Asian markets steadied as South Korea's Kospi added 0.3% and China's CSI 300 rose 1.7%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.25%. Traders now look to the Fed's Oct. 27-28 meeting, with Brent crude near $113 keeping inflation worries alive, and to ETF flows, after U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs lost $635 million on Thursday, according to SoSoValue data, following more than $1 billion of inflows over the first three days of the week. In derivatives, the source reports crypto futures volume fell 19% over 24 hours and liquidations dropped 23%, a day after both jumped. Open interest rose 1% after declining yesterday, with bitcoin's price little changed, so traders are adding positions again, not just closing them. The long/short taker volume ratio tilts slightly to shorts, at 51.6% against 48.4%. OI-adjusted cumulative volume delta, which tracks whether market orders are mostly buys or sells, showed most tokens ending yesterday below zero, with the weakest near -0.12%, while today almost all are within 0.05% of zero, except XAUT around -0.25%. Futures open interest rose about 1% in both bitcoin and ether while their prices barely moved, indicating a modest build in new positions. Liquidations fell sharply, by about two-thirds in bitcoin and a third in ether. Bitcoin funding rose to 0.0067% from 0.0041%, so longs are paying a little more to hold, while ether funding is flat. In BNB and SUI, funding flipped back to positive from -0.0048% and -0.0036%, and DOGE was steady; today all three are positive, and funding rose in most top tokens. De-risking continued in mZEC, SOL, XRP and DOGE, with open interest falling in all four by more than price alone explains; ZEC was sharpest, with open interest sliding 8% on a 1.5% price drop, its second day of heavy exits. New money kept entering commodity perps: open interest rose in gold, silver and crude oil for a second day. Gold and silver prices fell with positive funding, meaning longs are paying, while crude oil open interest rose along with a 1.4% price gain and negative funding, so shorts are paying. The gold token XAUT had the deepest negative OI-adjusted CVD of any token, meaning market sells dominated. Monero's funding spike faded back to normal. In options, bitcoin activity sat in upside calls, with the most traded the Nov. 27 $98,000 call followed by the Dec. 25 $88,000 call; five of the most-active six are calls, all above the market, and the only put is a $76,000 contract expiring Oct. 30. In ether, puts took the top two spots, led by the Oct. 26 $2,200 put with roughly 9,000 contracts.

Market impact

The source provides these figures: bitcoin rose 0.5% to around $81,700, recovering from a low of around $81,000. Ether rose 0.9%. The CoinDesk 80 altcoin index gained 1.4%, memecoins climbed 2.9%, and pepe jumped 13%. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.6% on Thursday, its steepest decline since June. South Korea's Kospi added 0.3%, China's CSI 300 rose 1.7%, and Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.25%. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs lost $635 million on Thursday, according to SoSoValue data, following more than $1 billion of inflows over the first three days of the week. Brent crude was near $113. In futures, volume fell 19% over 24 hours and liquidations dropped 23%. Open interest rose 1% after declining yesterday. The long/short taker volume ratio was 51.6% shorts against 48.4% longs. OI-adjusted CVD showed most tokens ending yesterday below zero, with the weakest near -0.12%, while today almost all are within 0.05% of zero, except XAUT around -0.25%. Bitcoin and ether open interest rose about 1% each. Liquidations fell by about two-thirds in bitcoin and a third in ether. Bitcoin funding rose to 0.0067% from 0.0041%; ether funding was flat. BNB and SUI funding flipped to positive from -0.0048% and -0.0036%. ZEC open interest slid 8% on a 1.5% price drop. Crude oil open interest rose with a 1.4% price gain. In options, the Nov. 27 $98,000 bitcoin call was most traded, followed by the Dec. 25 $88,000 call; the only put among the top six was a $76,000 contract expiring Oct. 30. In ether, the Oct. 26 $2,200 put led with roughly 9,000 contracts.

Why it matters

The source supports several consequences. First, the rebound shows crypto decoupling from equity weakness on this day: bitcoin and altcoins rose even as the Nasdaq had fallen 2.6% on Thursday, and Asian stocks only steadied. Second, the derivatives data suggests positioning is being rebuilt rather than unwound: open interest rose 1% with bitcoin's price little changed, which the source reads as traders adding positions again, not just closing them. Third, funding turning positive in BNB and SUI, and rising in bitcoin, means longs are paying to hold, a sign of renewed bullish lean. Fourth, the options activity shows bitcoin traders positioned for upside, with five of the six most-active contracts being calls above the market, while ether traders favored puts, led by the Oct. 26 $2,200 put. Fifth, ETF flows matter: the $635 million outflow on Thursday, after more than $1 billion of inflows over the first three days of the week, is a key variable traders are watching alongside the Fed's Oct. 27-28 meeting. Sixth, de-risking continues in mZEC, SOL, XRP and DOGE, with ZEC seeing its second day of heavy exits, pointing to capital flight in those names. Finally, new money entering commodity perps, including gold, silver and crude oil, suggests traders are hedging inflation worries kept alive by Brent near $113.