Red September: Bitcoin Below $110K, Ethereum Under $3.9K
Unless institutional demand and holder appetite realign, the risk of a deeper cooldown remains high.
Quick overview
- The cryptocurrency market is experiencing a significant selloff, primarily driven by a massive liquidation of long Bitcoin positions.
- Bitcoin is currently trading near $109,000, its lowest level since last August, while Ethereum has fallen below $4,000.
- Over $1.1 billion in positions were liquidated recently, with more than $1 billion related to Bitcoin longs, impacting major altcoins as well.
- The Federal Reserve's cautious stance on rate cuts, amid mixed economic data, is contributing to the ongoing underperformance in the crypto market.
The selloff stems from a massive liquidation of Bitcoin positions, mostly long bets. The rest of the major altcoins are also sliding lower.
The cryptocurrency market is facing another bleak session. Bitcoin (BTC) is trading near $109,000—its lowest level since last August—down 1.6% on the day. Similarly, Ethereum (ETH) broke below the $4,000 threshold, falling to $3,900 with a daily drop of 0.7%.
The rout follows a wave of liquidations, mainly in leveraged long positions. According to CoinGlass data, over $1.1 billion in positions were wiped out in the past few hours, with more than $1 billion tied to Bitcoin longs.
Major altcoins mirrored the downtrend: Dogecoin fell 1.6%, XRP dropped 3.2%, Solana declined 2.5%, and BNB slumped 4.9%.
Signs of Exhaustion
Bitcoin is showing “signs of exhaustion.” Long-term holders have begun to take profits, while inflows into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) slowed sharply. Unless institutional demand and holder appetite realign, the risk of a deeper cooldown remains high.
Current data shows this bull cycle has lasted 1,030 days, close to the average 1,060-day span of the previous two. The latest plunge nearly erased what had been Bitcoin’s second-best September on record. Historically, September has been a tough month: eight of the past eleven have ended in the red, while October tends to bring stronger performance.
Fed in Focus
On the macro front, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index—a key gauge for the Federal Reserve—came in at 2.7% year over year on Friday, in line with expectations.
The release comes at a tense moment for the Fed, caught between officials pushing for further rate cuts and those resisting, all under growing political pressure from Donald Trump to align monetary policy with his agenda.
At the same time, personal consumption spending rose 0.6%, beating forecasts, following yesterday’s stronger-than-expected Q2 GDP figures. Ironically, these data points have “cooled” expectations for a steady pace of Fed rate cuts in upcoming meetings—potentially adding to crypto’s recent underperformance.
Traditional Markets
Meanwhile, Wall Street traded mixed on Friday as investors parsed the Fed’s cautious tone. Chair Jerome Powell signaled the central bank will proceed carefully with rate cuts.
Among major indexes, the Dow Jones gained 0.3%, the S&P 500 rose 0.1%, and the Russell 2000 advanced 0.2%. By contrast, the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 0.2%.
- Check out our free forex signals
- Follow the top economic events on FX Leaders economic calendar
- Trade better, discover more Forex Trading Strategies
- Open a FREE Trading Account
Save