Why Is Bitcoin Down Today? BTC Slides Below $82,000 as Oil Tops $111 and AI-Spending Fears Hit Tech

Bitcoin traded near $81,347 on Thursday, October 22, down 3.9% over 24 hours, after sliding from a 24-hour high of $84,778 to an intraday low of $80,989, according to CoinGecko data. The selloff is not one story but three running at once: Brent crude jumped above $111 a barrel on reports that the United States and Israel have drawn up plans for renewed strikes on Iran, Meta and Tesla earnings revived doubts about how much companies are spending on artificial intelligence, and the resulting risk-off move forced leveraged bitcoin longs out of their positions.