Bitcoin’s price usually rises in October.

But this October, it broke that streak and dropped 5%.

It faces near-term headwinds, but its long-term tailwinds are still strong.

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October is usually a great month for Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC). The world’s top cryptocurrency delivered an average gain of 20% during that month from 2013 to 2024. That’s why October is often known as “Uptober” for Bitcoin investors.

But this year’s “Uptober” was a bust as Bitcoin’s price declined 5%. That marked Bitcoin’s first negative October since 2018, when it dropped 2% amid the broader crypto crash. Let’s see why Bitcoin slipped this October, and what that decline might mean for its future.

Image source: Getty Images.

Up until October, Bitcoin was having a strong year. It was up 22% year to date through Sept. 30, compared with the S&P 500’s 14% gain and the Nasdaq’s 17% gain. Bitcoin’s price was driven higher by four main catalysts.

First, declining interest rates drove investors toward cryptocurrencies, higher-growth stocks, and other speculative investments again. The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark rate three times in 2024 and executed its first rate cut of 2025 in September. Those lower rates also weakened the U.S. dollar and made Bitcoin a more appealing safe haven asset.

Second, Bitcoin underwent its latest “halving,” which occurs every four years, last April. That process cuts its mining rewards in half and makes it harder to mine the token for a profit. That scarcity, which is capped at a maximum supply of 21 million tokens, makes it even more comparable to gold, silver, and other hard commodities.

Third, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved Bitcoin’s first spot price exchange-traded funds (ETFs) last January. Those approvals made Bitcoin more accessible to retail and institutional investors.

Lastly, Bitcoin was more widely adopted by companies including Strategy, institutional investors including BlackRock, and national governments including El Salvador and the Central African Republic. The U.S. also launched its own Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile in March to store its accumulated cryptocurrencies. That support made it a more stable investment than other smaller cryptocurrencies.

Several near-term challenges likely caused Bitcoin’s price to pull back this October. Even though the Fed executed its second rate cut of 2025 at the end of October, the 10-Year Treasury yields still stayed above 4% throughout most of the month.