Bitcoin slips below $105,000, erasing its technical rebound, while altcoins plummet 7 to 25% in a risk-off market context and flight to stablecoins.
Bitcoin under pressure, traders retreat to stablecoins
This Friday morning, Bitcoin was trading around $104,700, steadily declining since the Asian session. The technical rebound observed after last week’s crash did not hold. The 50-day moving average acted as resistance, and sellers are now testing the support from the last three months. The bears persist with such consistency that the market could soon test the 200-day average, located around a total capitalization of $3.5 trillion.
Ethereum drops to $3,700, and other majors decline: BNB, Solana, and XRP fall by 7 to 14%. More speculative altcoins suffer even more: Dogecoin and Cardano plunge by over 25% for the week.
Investors are massively seeking refuge in stablecoins. Altcoins are under pressure in a market where liquidity is once again focusing on Bitcoin and stablecoins, in a risk-off sentiment. Weak order books seem to amplify movements, making the markets particularly volatile after last Friday’s crash.
A controlled deleveraging rather than a panic?
Despite the extent of the correction, signals do not point to an uncontrolled crash. Analysts suggest more of a phase of controlled deleveraging, where leveraged positions are gradually liquidated without panic. Data confirms this: exchange open interest falls to its lowest levels of the year, while inflows into Bitcoin ETFs remain stable, a sign that long-term capital is not fleeing the market.
Nothing structurally has changed. It’s simply a decrease in speculative appetite after the release of the latest macroeconomic data.
Wenny C., COO at SynFutures.
Nassar Achkar, strategic director at CoinW, shares this view: “Leverage cleanups often help to rebuild healthier foundations. Resilient flows into ETFs and whale accumulation contribute to stabilizing the market.“
The Fed in focus
All eyes are now on the October FOMC meeting. Markets anticipate a 65% probability of a 25 basis point rate cut. If this monetary easing materializes, it could breathe new life into the crypto market by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, uncertainty also looms over traditional markets: gold briefly hit a new record before retracting, while the yen strengthened amid renewed trade tensions between the US and China. The Asian index falls to its lowest level in two weeks.
An opportunity window?
Some see this storm as an opportunity to seize. Arthur Hayes, founder of BitMEX, describes the current drop as an “ideal buying window,” while analysts at K33 Research believe that deleveraging creates room for new spot positions on Bitcoin.
The scenario resembles the pauses seen in previous bullish cycles: fatigue, risk purge, then a gradual return of capital. The big question remains whether this rotation will occur before or after the next Fed signal.
