Bitcoin hovers near $109K amid rate-cut anticipation, while select altcoins rebound from weekend losses
The past 24 hours for Bitcoin have been defined by intense volatility, with Bitcoin price sinking to a two-month low before rebounding back above $109,000 later in the day.
Traders seemed wary amidst the Labor Day lull and renewed tariff tensions.
The total crypto market cap saw little change and remained steady around the $3.85 trillion market cap amidst the absence of any major catalysts.
In the meantime, market sentiment remained in favor of bears, with the crypto fear and greed index dipping from neutral to fear territory following a slow weekend.
At press time, the metric was at 46.
Most altcoins were reeling from weekend losses throughout today’s Asian trading session, and only a select few, led by the top gainers, posted reasonable profits.
Why is Bitcoin stuck?
Bitcoin traded between $107,295 and $109,828 today, caught in a tight range as US financial markets paused for Labor Day, leaving crypto participants to navigate a vacuum of catalysts.
With futures markets shut and no fresh macroeconomic data to digest until Tuesday, price action remained stifled by indecision.
A brewing source of uncertainty stems from last week’s surprise twist in the US trade tariff saga.
A federal appeals court ruled that President Donald Trump had exceeded his authority in imposing key international tariffs, injecting fresh ambiguity into America’s trade posture.
Although crypto briefly reacted to the legal shake-up, the news dropped after traditional markets had closed, preventing any meaningful capital rotation into risk assets.
Trump’s defiant response — pledging to maintain tariffs or risk turning the US into a “third world nation” — has only deepened uncertainty, particularly as investors await clarity on how a potential rollback or reinstatement might affect inflation and global trade flows.
With these macro gears grinding slowly, many traders chose to sit out the session.
Looking ahead, all eyes are on this week’s labor data, which will serve as the final key input before the Fed’s pivotal September 17 meeting.
Weekly jobless claims — a crucial measure of economic softness — could tip expectations either toward aggressive rate cuts or continued hawkish restraint.
According to The Kobeissi Letter, this is “the last week of labor market data before the big September Fed meeting,” placing even more weight on any upside or downside surprises.
Until then, many institutional players appear to be taking a step back.
Last week ended on a downbeat note as spot Bitcoin ETFs logged net outflows of $126.7 million, a sharp reversal from earlier optimism.
These redemptions signal that some large holders may be reducing exposure amid doubts about near-term upside, especially as BTC struggles to stay above its former all-time highs.
Compounding the inertia is an emerging divergence between Bitcoin and its historical hedge, gold.
On Monday, the yellow metal surged to $3,489 per ounce, just shy of April’s record high.
Analysts at Mosaic Asset and other firms pointed to seasonal tailwinds and inflation jitters as key drivers.
If sticky inflation forces the Fed to delay cuts, gold stands to benefit while risk assets like Bitcoin might remain rangebound.
Peter Schiff, never one to miss a jab at crypto, framed gold’s breakout as “very bearish for Bitcoin,” warning that the digital asset could be “poised to go much lower.”
Whether or not his prediction pans out, the optics of institutional capital favoring gold over Bitcoin, at least for now, adds another layer of hesitation.
To top it off, September’s historical baggage isn’t doing Bitcoin any favors. Known as a seasonally weak month for crypto, the weight of past cycles seems to be filtering into current sentiment.
The Crypto Fear and Greed Index, as mentioned earlier, has slipped into fear territory, reinforcing the sense that traders are more interested in protecting downside than chasing upside.
For now, Bitcoin remains suspended in a state of watchful waiting until a decisive narrative emerges from jobs data or the Fed; the crypto market may be stuck watching from the sidelines.
Bitcoin price prediction – what’s next for Bitcoin?
Although Bitcoin has been dipping, the broader consensus suggests the pullback may not be as bearish as it appears at first glance.
Several technical analysts believe this consolidation phase mirrors earlier corrections that eventually gave way to new highs.
Crypto analyst TedPillows argues that the current structure mimics previous 30% drawdowns seen in Q2 2025 and Q3 2024 — both of which were followed by strong rebounds.
BTC/USDT 1-week chart. Source: Ted Pillows on X.
He did not rule out a brief dip below $100,000, but insists that this is likely just another cyclical reset rather than a macro top.
Echoing this cautious optimism, fellow market watcher Ito Shimotsuma added that Bitcoin is now clinging to a key support level. If the current range breaks, the price could slip towards the $98K–$100K region.
BTC/USDC 1-day price chart. Source: Ito Shimotsuma.
However, he stresses that a decisive close above $112,000 would flip the trend back in favor of the bulls, making that level a crucial line in the sand for short-term price direction.
That said, the bulls haven’t checked out entirely.
Pseudonymous market commentary Illusion X observed a breakout brewing from a descending wedge, with a bold price target of $150,000, a move that would represent nearly 38% upside from current levels.
Meanwhile, Merlijn The Trader is betting on a “bullish megaphone pattern,” where each swing grows in amplitude, setting the stage for a dramatic breakout.
BTC/USD – 1 Day price chart. Source: Merlijin The Trader on X.
According to his chart, Bitcoin’s repeated touches on the megaphone’s lower trendline have only strengthened the pattern, adding to the probability of a vertical push if resistance breaks.
“Target? $130K+ isn’t hopium. It’s the setup,” the analyst concluded.
On-chain fundamentals lend additional weight to the bullish case. Data from CryptoQuant’s XWIN Research highlights two notable indicators: Delta Cap and the Coinbase Premium Gap.
Delta Cap — a historical cycle floor metric — currently values Bitcoin at around $108,900, almost exactly in line with spot prices, suggesting the market is consolidating near a structurally sound level.
At the same time, the Coinbase Premium Gap, sitting at +12.88, reflects US institutional buyers paying above-market prices, which may be interpreted as a potential signal of quiet accumulation.
When writing, Bitcoin was changing hands at $108,813, after failing to break above $109.5k earlier in the day.
Altcoin market
In the last 24 hours, the combined market cap of all altcoins increased nearly 5% to over $1.71 trillion.
Ethereum (ETH), which holds the most dominant share among the top altcoins, dipped 2% over the day, slipping under $4.4k at press time.
Other large-cap altcoins such as XRP (XRP), Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE, and Tron (TRX) mirrored similar losses ranging between1-2%.
The highest gainers among the top 100 altcoins today were MemeCore (M) and World Liberty Financial’s token WLFI, which posted gains of 19% and 15% respectively, while Four (FORM) followed with comparatively modest gains of 3.3% over the day.
Source: CoinMarketCap
MemeCore: While no specific catalyst could be identified to explain its gains today, they were likely supported by renewed investor interest after D-Pump, a Web3 token launcher, unveiled a partnership with MemeCore.
World Liberty Financial: WLFI tokens’ gains come as multiple major centralized exchanges, including Binance, KuCoin, OKX, Bybit, among others, confirmed that they would be listing the token following its launch earlier today.
WLFI’s gains were also supported by the launch of its stablecoin USD1 on the Solana blockchain, allowing it to leverage the network’s high throughput and low transaction costs.
However, by the end of the day, the altcoin had lost some of its early-day gains as several whale wallets were seen offloading the token, which brought down its daily gains.
Four: FORM’s gains today also lacked any particular catalyst and were primarily driven by community hype and speculative trading supported by the broader altcoin market recovery.
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