Bitcoin Trades Below $80,000 as U.S. Advisories Flag Possible Staff Changes

Bitcoin (BTC) traded below $80,000 Saturday, bringing the level back into focus for crypto markets as U.S. advisories for Qatar and Lebanon flagged possible additional diplomatic staffing changes.

At 11:11 a.m. ET (15:11 UTC), BTC was at $79,700, down 2.2% over 24 hours. Ether (ETH), XRP and Solana (SOL) were down 3% to 4%.

State Department advisories dated Oct. 23 set Qatar at Level 3 and Lebanon at Level 4, and said additional staffing adjustments “may be imposed.” The advisories did not confirm specific staff departures.

An unclassified memo dated Oct. 23 from Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton to Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned of Iranian efforts to target U.S. personnel, describing the plotting as advanced in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Saturday’s move was not the first time BTC fell below $80,000 this month. It also dipped under the level on Oct. 15 before recovering. TokenPost covered the earlier dip and the subsequent recovery.