BTC shoots past $116K on macro optimism; altcoins OKB, MORPHO lead weekly gains
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After a shaky start to the week that dragged Bitcoin down to around $111,000, bullish momentum resurfaced during late Asian trading hours on Friday.
The reaction came on the heels of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalling the possibility of a rate cut in September.
Sentiment indicators reacted accordingly. The crypto fear and greed index, which had slipped to a weekly low of 46—well within neutral territory—now looks poised to edge back into the greed zone as optimism returns to the broader market.
Meanwhile, the total cryptocurrency market capitalisation bounced back above the $4 trillion mark, reflecting renewed investor confidence sparked by Powell’s remarks.
In line with this, altcoins also saw a late-week boost, with several top-100 tokens extending their weekly gains on renewed bullish sentiment.
Why is the Bitcoin price going up?
Bitcoin’s late-week rally came after days of sluggish movement, marked by narrow trading ranges and muted investor interest.
The week began with price action hovering sideways, weighed down by uncertainty over what Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell would signal at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.
That anticipation, paired with a notable drop in institutional activity, kept market momentum at bay.
The spot Bitcoin ETF market reflected this hesitation. Funds shed assets for five straight days leading into Friday, offloading $194 million on Thursday alone.
Total outflows for the week topped $1 billion, underscoring how institutional players had been pulling back amid macroeconomic ambiguity.
Ethereum wasn’t spared either—its spot ETFs lost over $700 million during the same stretch, a stark reversal from the inflows seen in previous weeks.
However, as Powell took the stage in Jackson Hole and delivered his speech, the momentum shifted.
Bitcoin surged to $116,000 after Powell’s speech hinted that the central bank may soon pivot to a more accommodative stance.
While Powell was careful with his language, he noted that the current trajectory of inflation and labour market conditions “may warrant adjusting” the Fed’s policy, a statement widely interpreted as dovish by traders.
Markets wasted no time responding. Risk assets, including crypto, jumped on the news while the US dollar retreated.
Bitcoin gained over 3.5% on the day, bouncing off local lows of $111,658—its weakest level since July 10.
The move not only wiped out the week’s losses but also injected fresh volatility into the market.
Expectations for a 25-basis-point cut at the Fed’s September meeting have now gained traction.
The Kobeissi Letter noted that Powell’s messaging was clear enough to set the stage for such a move.
CME Group’s FedWatch Tool showed a similar leaning in market pricing.
Several prominent analysts noted key technical setups aligning with the news.
Scott Melker, aka The Wolf of All Streets, highlighted bullish divergences on multiple timeframes, with Bitcoin’s RSI flashing oversold conditions right as the asset held its $112K support.
The bounce also appeared to tap into resting liquidity below the range, according to TheKingfisher, while fellow analyst Daan Crypto Trades noted the recovery followed a “range low sweep” spurred by Powell’s dovish tone.
Bitcoin Liquidation map. Source: TheKingfisher on X.
What’s next for Bitcoin?
One look at Bitcoin’s 24-hour liquidation heatmap shows the spark behind Friday’s surge: a cascade of short liquidations ignited just above $113,000, accelerating BTC’s climb toward $117,000.
The steep vertical rally carved through dense layers of bid-side liquidity where bears were heavily positioned just above the recent range.
As prices pierced those pockets, liquidations snowballed, forcing traders to cover shorts and contributing to the sudden price spike.
Zooming out to the 1-week liquidation map, a broader picture of the battlefield emerges.
Bitcoin’s recent bounce from $111,658 came after it absorbed significant bid-side liquidity near the $111K–$112K zone, a region housing concentrated leveraged longs that had built up during the drop.
The recovery flipped that zone into a short-term support base, as the price moved away from the liquidation cluster.
Just above, around $117,000 to $119,000, a fresh wall of liquidation leverage looms.
This area is densely packed with short interest and could act as both a magnet and a hurdle.
If bullish momentum persists, Bitcoin may attempt to sweep through that region next, likely triggering another round of forced buying.
However, failure to break above it cleanly could invite rejection and a retest of the $114,000 level, now a key intraday support that coincides with the midpoint of the liquidation sweep.
Below the current price, the $111K zone continues to stand out as a structural support.
Not only did it mark the week’s lowest low, but it also represents an area where strong bid liquidity absorbed selling pressure.
Should the market retrace, that level may serve as a critical line in the sand for bulls.
On X, most analysts were already expecting a major run fuelled by Powell’s recent remarks, with some volatility expected over the weekend.
For market commentator Mario Nawfal, $130,000 was a possible target for the bulls next week.
Others argued that the real upside could come later, with markets likely to rally further once the Federal Reserve formally enacts the anticipated rate cut in December.
Meanwhile, veteran trader Michael van de Poppe wrote “Uptrend is back” as Bitcoin was crossing the $116,000 mark.
On the daily timeframe, market analyst Merljin The Trader observed that Bitcoin had confirmed an inverse head and shoulders pattern, often viewed as a classic bullish reversal signal.
The breakout above the neckline has already occurred, and according to Merlijn’s chart, the recent pullback served as a successful retest of that neckline around $112,000.
If this retest holds, based on the structure a potential upside move toward the $130,000 region in the coming weeks is a possibility.
At press time, Bitcoin was hovering over $116,500 with losses of less than 1% on the weekly timeframe.
Altcoin market recap
The total market capitalization of all altcoins initially rose 2.4% over the past week before ending the period 2.5% lower, standing at $1.63 trillion as of Friday, Aug. 22.
As of press time, the altcoin market was showing renewed momentum following Powell’s speech.
Ethereum, the leading altcoin by market cap, settled at $4,650 over the week with gains of 2.2% while other large-cap coins like BNB (BNB), Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE) and Cardano (ADA) posted gains between 1-5%.
OKB led the highest gains among the top 99 altcoins, up nearly 125% while Morpho (MORPHO) and Chainlink (LINK) followed with gains of 40% and 21% over the week.
Source: CoinMarketCap
OKB: The major catalyst fueling OKB’s rally this week was its token burn event, which removed 65 million OKB tokens and slashed its circulating supply from about 300 million to a hard cap of 21 million.
Another factor that played a part in OKB’s rally this week was the launch of its zkEVM-based X Layer blockchain, which delivers significantly higher throughput, near-zero fees, and full integration with OKX’s wallet, exchange, and payment systems.
Additionally, OKX also phased out its older Cosmos-based OKTChain, migrating 1.3 million OKT tokens into OKB.
Morpho: Morpho rallied this week primarily due to the successful launch of its lending protocol on Ethereum, which drove renewed investor interest in the token.
The project’s debut was further boosted by a surge in liquidity inflows, as users moved capital into the protocol to take advantage of its competitive yields and efficient design.
Chainlink: Chainlink rallied this week primarily due to sustained whale accumulation, with large investors ramping up their LINK holdings.
The token also benefited from rising institutional adoption, with more projects integrating Chainlink’s oracle solutions to enhance their smart contract reliability.
Adding to that, Chainlink Reserve, which uses revenue from ecosystem integrations to purchase LINK tokens, has also supported its gains via multiple buybacks this week.
The post BTC shoots past $116K on macro optimism; altcoins OKB, MORPHO lead weekly gains appeared first on Invezz
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