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Bitcoin ( BTC +1.85% ) rose 2.4% to $84,489.25, Ethereum ( ETH +1.03% ) rose 2.3% to $2,491.77, and Solana ( SOL +0.65% ) rose 1.9% to $$108.05. As of early evening on Oct. 21, the three tokens were trading higher as investors returned to riskier assets. BTC Bitcoin $84,574.00 +$1,537.79 (+1.85%) CRYPTO · As of 6:22 PM ET 10/21/26 What's driving crypto markets Bitcoin's gains reflect a rebound in tech stocks and increased risk appetite today.
More broadly, blockchain assets got a structural boost from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today as it finalized stablecoin rules -- essentially implementing the Genius Act that Washington passed last year. That's particularly useful for programmable cryptos like Ethereum and Solana, as stablecoins get issued on their ecosystems. Crypto ETF snapshot U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs drew $527 million on Monday, their biggest day since Sept. 22.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF saw over $665 million of inflows, but that only shows part of the picture -- $84 million moved out of the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund ( FBTC +2.44% ) and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ( GBTC +2.39% ) lost $55 million in funds. The assets held by spot Ethereum ETFs have fallen this week, with the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF ( ETHA +2.47% ) losing $128 million across Monday and Tuesday. What this means for investors Bitcoin's price has held above $80,000 for the past month, as wider fiscal uncertainty has pushed investors toward alternative assets.
It is still too soon to start predicting the next all-time high, but this does look like a sustained recovery -- particularly as the OCC's stablecoin progress supports wider blockchain adoption. Interestingly, JPMorgan ( JPM -0.02% ) thinks Bitcoin could outperform stocks in the next decade. The investment firm included the lead crypto in its long-term forecasts for the first time, predicting 10% annualized returns but warning of significant volatility.
Solana's long-awaited Alpenglow upgrade went live today, making the speedy crypto even faster and marking a significant milestone. The combination of speed and security will be crucial for blockchains to make further inroads into traditional finance, whether through stablecoins or real-world asset tokenization . Top 10 crypto performance # Name Price 24h 7d 1 Bitcoin (BTC) $84,493.75 +1.9% +3.5% 2 Ethereum (ETH) $2,491.67 +1.8% +2.7% 3 Tether (USDT) $0.9995 +0.0% +0.0% 4 BNB (BNB) $748.88 +1.3% +2.7% 5 XRP (XRP) $1.39 +4.7% +4.8% 6 USDC (USDC) $0.9998 +0.0% -0.0% 7 Solana (SOL) $108.07 +1.5% +3.9% 8 TRON (TRX) $0.3315 +0.2% -0.5% 9 Figure Heloc (FIGR_HELOC) $1.01 -3.8% -2.0% 10 Zcash (ZEC) $1,351.03 +11.7% +17.8% Ranked by market cap.
Price and 24-hour change for BTC, ETH and SOL: FMP, the same figures used in the text above. All other figures: CoinGecko, as of October 21, 2026 20:17 UTC. JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money.
Emma Newbery has positions in BNB, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, Hyperliquid, JPMorgan Chase, Solana, XRP, and iShares Bitcoin Trust. The Motley Fool recommends BNB and TRON.
The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
Source: The Motley Fool
