--- title: "Crypto market close, Oct. 16: Bitcoin edges down 0.8% to $81,499" description: "Bitcoin ended the UTC day at $81,499 after a $80,767–$82,794 range; 10 of the 50 largest crypto assets rose and 35 fell. Movers, whale flows, stablecoins and sentiment inside." url: https://basisdesk.news/news/crypto-market-close-october-16-2026 published: 2026-10-17T00:05:03.024Z modified: 2026-10-17T00:05:03.024Z section: Macro & Markets author: Basis Desk Newsroom (AI-generated, source-verified) sentiment: neutral tickers: [BTC, ETH, ZEC] tags: [market close, crypto market, bitcoin price, daily report] license: Quote with attribution to Basis Desk (basisdesk.news). Not financial advice. --- # Crypto market close, Oct. 16: Bitcoin edges down 0.8% to $81,499 Bitcoin ended the UTC day at $81,499 after a $80,767–$82,794 range; 10 of the 50 largest crypto assets rose and 35 fell. Movers, whale flows, stablecoins and sentiment inside. ## Key points - Bitcoin closed at $81,499 (−0.8%) after a $80,767–$82,794 range. - ZEC was the top-30 standout at −5.9%; 10 of the top 50 rose, 35 fell. - Whale tracker: 1,149 large transfers; exchange deposits $3.3B vs withdrawals $2.4B. Bitcoin closed the UTC day on October 16, 2026 at $81,499, down 0.8% from its $82,137 open, after trading in a $80,767–$82,794 range. Ether ended at $2,420 (−0.8%). The total crypto market capitalization stood at $2.71T (−0.8% over 24 hours), with Bitcoin's share at 60.2%. Breadth was negative: of the 50 largest assets we track (excluding stablecoins and wrapped tokens), 10 rose and 35 fell, and the median move was −1.1%. The standout among the top 30 was [Zcash](/coins/zcash) (ZEC), −5.9% to $1,150. ## Majors at the close | Asset | Close | Day | 7 days | Day range | |---|---:|---:|---:|---:| | [Bitcoin](/coins/bitcoin) (BTC) | $81,499 | −0.8% | −1.9% | $80,767–$82,794 | | [Ethereum](/coins/ethereum) (ETH) | $2,420 | −0.8% | −3.4% | $2,394–$2,489 | | [Binance Coin](/coins/binancecoin) (BNB) | $720.84 | −1.1% | −2.9% | $718.08–$735.05 | | [XRP](/coins/ripple) (XRP) | $1.31 | −1.8% | −6.4% | $1.29–$1.35 | | [Solana](/coins/solana) (SOL) | $104.32 | −0.9% | −6.1% | $102.51–$107.01 | | [TRON](/coins/tron) (TRX) | $0.3350 | +0.8% | +0.6% | $0.3322–$0.3358 | | [Hyperliquid](/coins/hyperliquid) (HYPE) | $80.24 | −1.9% | −6.9% | $78.44–$82.38 | | [Zcash](/coins/zcash) (ZEC) | $1,150 | −5.9% | −7.0% | $1,134–$1,244 | | [Dogecoin](/coins/dogecoin) (DOGE) | $0.0808 | −0.1% | −4.9% | $0.0794–$0.0827 | | [Monero](/coins/monero) (XMR) | $557.15 | +1.6% | +3.6% | $544.57–$570.83 | ## Biggest movers in the top 50 **Up:** [Polkadot](/coins/polkadot) +3.3% · JUST +3.3% · [Worldcoin](/coins/worldcoin-wld) +1.9% · [Monero](/coins/monero) +1.6% · [Cosmos](/coins/cosmos) +1.2% **Down:** Venice Token −7.4% · [Zcash](/coins/zcash) −5.9% · [Injective Protocol](/coins/injective-protocol) −3.9% · [NEAR Protocol](/coins/near) −3.7% · [Ondo](/coins/ondo-finance) −3.2% Beyond the top 50 (assets above $50 million in market value, rolling 24 hours): Alaya Governance Token (AGT) led gains at +63.9%; Starknet (STRK) fell the most, −15.4%. ## Sentiment The Crypto Fear & Greed Index read 63 (Greed), unchanged a day earlier. Basis Desk's own news-flow gauge counted 11 bullish, 6 bearish and 19 neutral items among 36 published during the day. ## Stablecoins Stablecoin supply totaled $306.2B, down $367.5M over 24 hours. Largest: USDT $183.4B, USDC $72.8B, USDS $7.0B. ## Whale flows Basis Desk's on-chain scanner logged 1,075 transfers of $5 million or more on Ethereum (ETH and major tokens) and 74 Bitcoin transfers of 100 BTC or more, excluding change outputs and wallet consolidations. Deposits to labeled exchange wallets totaled $3.3B, against $2.4B withdrawn — net deposits, which can precede selling, though custody reshuffles look the same on-chain. - [$213.3M in USDT](https://etherscan.io/tx/0x7a950da80dc674703bdf698b56aee6c62d4db3d6487e948fdf0c7a180e842cb3) (213,600,000 USDT) from an unlabeled wallet to Bitfinex - [$150.3M in USDT](https://etherscan.io/tx/0x10f369247265b6fde84b0c4c381c9ca773d61b12d600124c947b4e040d9919e5) (150,499,997 USDT) from an unlabeled wallet to Binance - [$113.2M in USDT](https://etherscan.io/tx/0xe230481155c1caf9697f775149cb85066c6d1c329eee1ec9ad0700537a921a88) (113,301,419 USDT) from an unlabeled wallet to Binance Live feed: [whale transfers](/data/whales). ## Network fees Ethereum gas was 0.20 gwei (standard); Bitcoin fees for next-half-hour confirmation were 1 sat/vB at the close. ## The day's top stories - [Circle Discloses USDC Economics, Paying $819M to Distribution Partners in H1 2026](/news/circle-discloses-usdc-economics-partner-payouts-h1-2026) - [Visa, Stripe, and OKX Expand Enterprise Stablecoin Infrastructure Around Open USD](/analysis/visa-stripe-okx-expand-stablecoin-settlement) - [Strive Files to Offer 5 Million Shares of 15% SATS Preferred Stock to Buy Bitcoin](/news/strive-files-sats-preferred-stock-offering-bitcoin) - [Coldcard Firmware Vulnerability Leads to $116M Bitcoin Self-Custody Theft](/news/coldcard-firmware-exploit-116m-bitcoin-theft) - [a16z Crypto Unveils Aerie to Accelerate Post-Quantum Signature Aggregation](/news/a16z-crypto-aerie-post-quantum-signature-aggregation) ## How this report is made This report is generated automatically from Basis Desk's market snapshots, with no AI-written text. Closing prices and day ranges come from our own 5-minute price history between 00:00 and 24:00 UTC (prices via Coinbase, Kraken and DefiLlama); 7-day changes, market values and the wider market from Coinlore; Fear & Greed from alternative.me; stablecoin supply from DefiLlama; fees from Ethereum mainnet and Blockstream; whale transfers from Basis Desk's own on-chain scanner. Previous close: [Oct. 15](/news/crypto-market-close-october-15-2026). Not financial advice. ## Sources - --- Basis Desk Newsroom · AI-generated, source-verified · https://basisdesk.news/about/how-we-use-ai