Bitcoin, Copper and Stocks Fall as Gold Rises Amid Broad Risk-Off Move

Your day-ahead look for Oct. 15, 2026

Bitcoin fell alongside copper, equities and Treasury yields on Thursday, while gold advanced, in a move that appeared to reflect a broad retreat from riskier assets rather than a crypto-specific sell-off.

Bitcoin (BTC) was down more than 2% over the previous 24 hours at $81,577.53. Several other major cryptocurrencies declined further, including XRP, ether (ETH), which was at $2,425.11, and solana (SOL).

Copper futures, closely watched as a barometer of global economic health, fell nearly 1% after dropping 1.6% on Wednesday. Other assets sensitive to economic growth also weakened. Asian stocks were pulled lower by a rout in South Korean chipmakers, while Nasdaq index futures and risk-sensitive currency pairs, including the Australian dollar against the Swiss franc, also declined.

Treasury yields fell at the same time, indicating that bond prices were rising, while gold gained 1%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark borrowing rate, dropped eight basis points to 5.08%. That extended its retreat from a recent peak of 5.36%. Treasuries and gold are commonly viewed as haven assets.

Taken together, the moves indicated reduced exposure to risk and stronger demand for safety, alongside concerns about a possible stagflationary environment — a combination of elevated inflation and slowing economic growth.

“It feels more like a stagflationary environment where risk assets and the US dollar generally underperform, while gold outperforms,” InvestingLive analyst Giuseppe Dellamotta wrote in a market update.

Rate-hike expectations ease

Expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates were cited as one catalyst for the market moves following Wednesday’s hotter-than-expected U.S. consumer price index report, a widely watched gauge of consumer inflation. Those expectations, however, appeared to be fading.

CME FedWatch data showed a 29% probability that the central bank would raise its benchmark rate to the 4%–4.25% range later this month. The remaining probability was assigned to rates staying unchanged at 3.75%–4%. The odds of a hike briefly approached 50% after the CPI report before quickly declining. The CME FedWatch Tool tracks the market-implied probabilities.

Thursday’s producer price index, which measures prices received by producers, is expected to provide another indication of how much inflation remains in the pipeline. A stronger-than-expected reading could intensify the risk-off mood.

Traders are also monitoring the artificial-intelligence trade and whether its recent unwinding will continue. Analysts at 10x Research said they still preferred holding bitcoin while that process plays out, provided BTC remains above $78,000. The analysts also said they preferred to “use ether as a hedge for BTC long positions.”

Ether support in focus

Ether’s daily price chart, shown in candlestick format since May, indicates that the cryptocurrency is testing a dual-support zone near $2,350. The zone consists of a horizontal trendline and an ascending trendline.

The horizontal trendline has acted as persistent support since Aug. 23, while the ascending trendline represents the bullish trend that began at the July lows. A break below the confluence would signal a significant weakening of demand and could open the way to deeper losses.

Other CoinDesk coverage

CoinDesk’s Bitcoin and crypto markets coverage also highlighted several developments:

• BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said companies are investing so heavily in the data centers that power artificial intelligence that efforts to slow the spending could hurt the U.S. economy as well as the stock market. He also warned about the $40 trillion national debt. CoinDesk report
• Binance is shutting down the bitcoin pool it launched in April 2020 after the pool’s hashrate fell 65%; it had previously handled 2.3% of the network. CoinDesk report
• Global equities declined as a sell-off in artificial-intelligence stocks accelerated and pushed investors toward bonds, according to Bloomberg.
• A BIS paper found that banks could slow stablecoin growth by offering savers higher returns.
• Claude was reported to have solved a 25-year-old NSA number mystery.
• Google’s new Willow breakthrough prompted renewed warnings about a quantum threat to Satoshi-era bitcoin.
• Big Tech’s AI auditors may only see the information they are shown.
• Traders will soon be able to bet on whether Coinbase, Robinhood and Marathon meet their targets.
• Circle is targeting 40 new markets as demand for stablecoins grows globally.
• A Quantum Alliance formed amid warnings that 6.4 million bitcoin could face a future quantum threat.
• A tokenized Tesla surged after Elon Musk unveiled a SpaceX-powered flying Roadster prototype.
• Altcoins outpaced bitcoin as Celestia rose 16%, while Kevin Warsh remained silent on interest-rate plans.
• A scammer who used a Ledger spy-chip exploit lost almost $5 million in bitcoin after being scammed.