--- title: "Crypto market close, Oct. 18: Bitcoin edges up 0.8% to $81,989" description: "Bitcoin ended the UTC day at $81,989 after a $80,687–$82,139 range; 31 of the 50 largest crypto assets rose and 11 fell. Movers, whale flows, stablecoins and sentiment inside." url: https://basisdesk.news/news/crypto-market-close-october-18-2026 published: 2026-10-19T00:05:55.060Z modified: 2026-10-19T00:05:55.060Z section: Macro & Markets author: Basis Desk Newsroom (AI-generated, source-verified) sentiment: neutral tickers: [BTC, ETH, XMR] 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. 18: Bitcoin edges up 0.8% to $81,989 Bitcoin ended the UTC day at $81,989 after a $80,687–$82,139 range; 31 of the 50 largest crypto assets rose and 11 fell. Movers, whale flows, stablecoins and sentiment inside. ## Key points - Bitcoin closed at $81,989 (+0.8%) after a $80,687–$82,139 range. - XMR was the top-30 standout at +4.2%; 31 of the top 50 rose, 11 fell. - Whale tracker: 523 large transfers; exchange deposits $535.3M vs withdrawals $462.0M. Bitcoin closed the UTC day on October 18, 2026 at $81,989, up 0.8% from its $81,310 open, after trading in a $80,687–$82,139 range. Ether ended at $2,408 (+0.5%). The total crypto market capitalization stood at $2.72T (+1.0% over 24 hours), with Bitcoin's share at 60.2%. Breadth was positive: of the 50 largest assets we track (excluding stablecoins and wrapped tokens), 31 rose and 11 fell, and the median move was +0.4%. The standout among the top 30 was [Monero](/coins/monero) (XMR), +4.2% to $598.12. ## Majors at the close | Asset | Close | Day | 7 days | Day range | |---|---:|---:|---:|---:| | [Bitcoin](/coins/bitcoin) (BTC) | $81,989 | +0.8% | −1.4% | $80,687–$82,139 | | [Ethereum](/coins/ethereum) (ETH) | $2,408 | +0.5% | −3.9% | $2,332–$2,425 | | [Binance Coin](/coins/binancecoin) (BNB) | $722.57 | +0.8% | −3.6% | $705.73–$723.24 | | [XRP](/coins/ripple) (XRP) | $1.31 | +1.0% | −6.4% | $1.26–$1.31 | | [Solana](/coins/solana) (SOL) | $104.02 | +0.8% | −5.0% | $100.51–$104.58 | | [TRON](/coins/tron) (TRX) | $0.3323 | −0.3% | +0.6% | $0.3312–$0.3339 | | [Hyperliquid](/coins/hyperliquid) (HYPE) | $78.87 | +1.3% | −7.6% | $76.16–$79.36 | | [Zcash](/coins/zcash) (ZEC) | $1,130 | +0.6% | −8.6% | $1,054–$1,153 | | [Dogecoin](/coins/dogecoin) (DOGE) | $0.0794 | +0.3% | −7.1% | $0.0762–$0.0798 | | [Monero](/coins/monero) (XMR) | $598.12 | +4.2% | +11.9% | $571.98–$605.45 | ## Biggest movers in the top 50 **Up:** [Monero](/coins/monero) +4.2% · [Pepe](/coins/pepe) +3.9% · [Arbitrum](/coins/arbitrum) +3.3% · [NEAR Protocol](/coins/near) +3.1% · [Sui](/coins/sui) +2.4% **Down:** [Render](/coins/render-token) −1.8% · [Quant](/coins/quant-network) −1.7% · [OKB](/coins/okb) −0.9% · [Internet Computer](/coins/internet-computer) −0.9% · [Algorand](/coins/algorand) −0.8% Beyond the top 50 (assets above $50 million in market value, rolling 24 hours): Convex Finance (CVX) led gains at +7.6%; Alaya Governance Token (AGT) fell the most, −19.2%. ## Sentiment The Crypto Fear & Greed Index read 59 (Greed), up from 53 a day earlier. Basis Desk's own news-flow gauge counted 2 bullish, 5 bearish and 16 neutral items among 23 published during the day. ## Stablecoins Stablecoin supply totaled $306.1B, up $655.2M over 24 hours. Largest: USDT $183.4B, USDC $72.6B, USDS $7.0B. ## Whale flows Basis Desk's on-chain scanner logged 499 transfers of $5 million or more on Ethereum (ETH and major tokens) and 24 Bitcoin transfers of 100 BTC or more, excluding change outputs and wallet consolidations. Deposits to labeled exchange wallets totaled $535.3M, against $462.0M withdrawn. - [$26.8M in USDC](https://etherscan.io/tx/0x84389ee1566ad7ba7d946d186018825513074d82237a40e4e221108dd800ca47) (26,820,302 USDC) from an unlabeled wallet to Coinbase - [$24.1M in ETH](https://etherscan.io/tx/0xf77533bef859995028330d49ea481af8075ae09e1d043f964d04fecf47b0146e) (10,000 ETH) from an unlabeled wallet to Bybit 21 - [$20.0M in USDT](https://etherscan.io/tx/0x706576a03d7902878352780e360db82e5754f3fe01b51555aa94e0b9c03977db) (20,000,000 USDT) from an unlabeled wallet to Binance Live feed: [whale transfers](/data/whales). ## Network fees Ethereum gas was 0.06 gwei (standard); Bitcoin fees for next-half-hour confirmation were 1 sat/vB at the close. ## The day's top stories - [Crypto Traders Lose $52M in 10 Minutes on Weekend Chip Stock Perpetuals](/news/chip-stock-perpetuals-liquidations-binance-hyperliquid) - [Stablecoin Payments Jump 45% to $482B Through September Despite Flat Supply](/news/stablecoin-payments-jump-allium-q3-report) - [Missouri Attorney General Orders Six Prediction Market Platforms to Cease Sports Wagering](/news/missouri-ag-cease-desist-prediction-markets-sports-wagering) - [Broadcom, Verizon and Seven Other Issuers Object to OKXICE Tokenized Stock Venue](/news/okxice-tokenized-stocks-sec-issuer-objections) - [Tether Capital Backs AIsa to Expand Agentic AI Payments Infrastructure](/news/tether-capital-invests-aisa-ai-payments-infrastructure) ## 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. 17](/news/crypto-market-close-october-17-2026). Not financial advice. ## Sources - --- Basis Desk Newsroom · AI-generated, source-verified · https://basisdesk.news/about/how-we-use-ai