Bitcoin Stalls at $111K as Altcoins Extend Their Lead
Nearly $250 million in crypto derivatives positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, even as overall market volatility stayed muted.
Bitcoin (BTC) is stuck near $111,000, down 2.9% over the past month, and its dominance has slipped from 61% to 57%, highlighting a rotation toward altcoins.
Ethereum (ETH) gained 1.1% overnight and has rallied 21% in 30 days, while Solana (SOL) rose 0.43% on the day and is up 27.5% this month. The CoinDesk 20 Index advanced 0.46% intraday and is 1.7% higher over 24 hours, with all members in positive territory.
Nick Forster, founder of Derive.xyz, said ETH has a 44% probability of hitting $6,000 by end-2025, pointing to ETF accumulation. “ETF holdings rose by 250,000 ETH last week, from 6.5 million to 6.74 million,” he noted.
Derivatives Positioning
- Open interest across perpetuals climbed to $114B, according to Laevitas.
- Binance liquidation heatmaps show clusters at $112,200 ($90M) and $110,000 ($76.6M).
- Deribit options saw 26.4K BTC contracts traded in 24h, with calls making up 51.6%. The most active strikes: $108K puts and $114K calls expiring Sept. 26.
- Funding rates remain broadly positive, though TRX stands out with a -10.2% APR.
Market Rotation
BTC has shed momentum, while altcoins are outperforming:
- BTC: –2.9% (30 days)
- ETH: +21% (30 days)
- SOL: +27.5% (30 days)
Analysts say institutional treasuries are increasingly adding altcoins, driving capital rotation. Historically, BTC dominance has fallen as low as 39%, leaving scope for further upside.
Many tokens remain oversold vs. BTC on RSI metrics, suggesting the altcoin bid could persist into September.
